THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 


A  DISSERTATION 
SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY 
OF  THE 

GRADUATE  DIVINITY  SCHOOL 


IN  CANDIDACY  FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF 
DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


DEPARTMENT  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY 


BY 

ROLVLX  HARLAN 


PRESS  OF  R.  M.  ANTES 
EVANSVILLE.  WIS. 
1906 


POI 


lOEO 


ROCKEFELLER 


BX7430 
.3)7  H2 


liX74 
0)7  HZ 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 


FOUNDED  BY  JOHN  D  ROCKEFELLER 


kn  Alexander  Dowie  and  tk 
ristian  Catkolic  Apostolic  Ckurcl 

IN  ZION. 


A  DISSERTATION 
SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY 
OF  THE 

GRADUATE  DIVINITY  SCHOOL 


IN  CANDIDACY  FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF 
DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


DEPARTMENT  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY 


ROLVUC 


.RLAN 


PRESS  OF  R,  M  ANTES 
EVANSVILLE.  WIS 
1906 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/johnalexanderdowOOharl 


INTRODUaiOM* 


The  religious  movement  inaugurated  and  inspired  by  Mr. 
Dowie  came  to  be  known  as  the  Christian  Catholic  Apostolic 
Church  in  Zion,  after  Mr.  Dowie  announced  himself  First 
Apostle  in  September,  1904.  It  has  been  through  an  evolutionary 
process,  which  with  the  progress  of  Mr.  Dowie's  assumptions 
of  office  and  authority,  will  appear  in  later  chapters.  Since 
the  revolt  in  April,  1906,  the  word  Apostolic  has  been  dropped, 
not  by  Mr.  Dowie  of  course,  but  by  the  new  regime  under 
Deputy  General  Overseer  Voliva. 

Mr.  Dowie  has  been  variously  designated  by  his  followers. 
They  were  accustomed  to  refer  to  him  affectionately  as  the 
"Doctor,"  or  "the  General  Overseer,"  or  as  "the  First 
Apostle."  This  of  course  was  before  the  overthrow  of  his 
authority,  for  now  scarcely  any  one  can  be  found  so  submis- 
sive as  to  do  him  reverence. 

His  organization  is  popularly  called  Zion,  which  to  the 
knowing"  means  the  Kingdom  of  God  referred  to  in  the  Old 
Testament  under  the  name  Zion. 

The  C.  C.  A.  C.  in  Zion  is  regarded  as  one  of  the 
agencies  for  establishing  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  denomi- 
national churches  are  regarded  as  "apostate,"  but  are  also,  so 
far  as  they  are  preaching  the  gospel,  considered  to  be  a  part 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  members  who  are  truly  Chris- 
tian are  a  part  of  Zion,  altho  they  may  not  be  in  the  restored, 
primitive  C.  C.  A.  C.  in  Zion.  This  is  their  theoretical 
attitude,  altho  Mr.  Dowie  would  hardly  be  thought  to  be  will- 
ing to  concede  as  much,  when  we  hear  him  saying:  '  'The  purpose 
of  Zion  is  to  smash  every  other  church  in  existence.  .  .  .  The 

*  Much  of  this  was  written  while  Mr.  Dowie  was  still  in  power  and  for 
the  sake  of  vividness  it  has  been  thought  best  not  to  change  the  tenses. 


2 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


churches  of  today  have  gone  in  the  way  of  Baal  .  .  .  There  are 
multitudes  of  good  people  within  these  churches.  There  are 
multitudes  of  Godly  ministers  within  these  churches.  .  .  .  They 
aredeceivedby  their  leaders.  .  .  .  God's  will  is  the  destruction 
of  every  organization  which  does  not  extend  the  Kingdom  of 
God  .  .  .  Zion  has  arisen,  a  Kingdom  which  cannot  be  shaken, 
the  Kingdom  of  God*"  Mr.  Voliva  is  practically  a  ditto  of 
Mr.  Dowie  at  this  point.  (See  L.  of  H.  Vol.  18,  No.  26, 
p.  458.) 

In  this  discussion  we  will  use  the  term  Zion  as  referring  to 
the  C.  C.  A.  C.  in  Zion,  or  the  people  whom  Mr.  Dowie  has 
so  organized. 

The  first  organization  was  effected  in  February,  1896  as  the 
C.  C.  C.  in  Zion,  and  altered  in  September,  1904  to  C.  C.  A. 
C.  in  Zion.  Mr.  Dowie  was  known  as  General  Overseer, 
then  as  Prophet,  and  since  September,  1904,  as  First  Apostle. 
This  he  has  demanded  of  his  followers.  In  the  organization  of 
the  church  are  found  various  officers.  Overseers,  who  have 
the  supervision  of  fields  of  labor  or  departments  of  work,  e.g. 
the  Overseer  of  Zion  City,  or  for  Africa,  or  for  Australia, 
etc.;  Elders,  who  administer  appointed  branches  or  stations; 
Evangelists,  who  teach  the  way  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  and 
who  hold  missions  at  various  points;  Deacons  and  Deaconesses, 
who  are  resident  in  branches  or  gatherings,  devoting  their 
time  to  secular  duties  of  their  own  choosing  or  church  appoint- 
ment.t  A  woman  may  hold  any  of  these  offices.  Mrs.  Jane 
Dowie  is  the  onl\'  one  who  has  held  the  office  of  Overseer, 

♦Voice  from  Zion,  Vol.  4,  No.  8,  pp.  12,  13. 

The  bitter  opposition  of  the  churches  to  Mr.  Dowie  and  the  abuse 
merited  and  unmerited  which  he  has  received  from  the  ministry  have 
doubtless  led  him  to  the  practical  attitude  towards  the  churches  which 
contradicts  this  theoretical  attitude  which  was  one  of  strategy  as  much  as 
conviction.  Mr.  Dowie  has  praised  or  blamed,  approved  or  derided  the 
churches  as  the  mood  was  upon  him  or  as  the  particular  occasion  seemed 
to  demand  tor  the  purposes  of  his  propaganda  among  those  in  the  churches. 
(See  chapter  on  Propaganda  of  Zion.) 

t  Pamphlet,  Many  Sided  Views  of  Zion. 


INTRODUCTION 


3 


being  in  charge  of  the  woman's  work.  No  unmarried  man 
may  hold  office  above  that  of  Deacon,  and  the  wife  of  an 
Overseer  is  usuallv  made  an  elder.  This  was  Mr.  Dowie's 
general  scheme  of  organization. 

The  statistics  of  Zion  are  not  to  had  from  any  trustworthy 
Zion  source.  Mr.  Dowie  said,  April  29,  1900,"^  "Thanks  be 
to  God  that  a  church  four  years  old,  with  less  than  five  hund- 
red members  at  its  organization  may  be  safely  counted  as  com- 
posed of  fifty  thousand  members."  This  is  only  one  sample 
of  his  exaggeration,  as  at  that  time  not  more  than  12,000  had 
been  baptized  by  triune  immersion,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  at  any 
time  his  following  has  aggregated  more  than  25,000.  In  the 
Literary  Digest,  Vol.  30,  No.  5,  p.  170,  the  report  of  the  Com- 
missioner of  U.  S.  Statistics  is  partially  reproduced  and  gives 
the  estimate  forty  thousand  as  a  maximum  figure  for  Mr. 
Dowie's  followers.  About  22,000  have  been  baptized  by  triune 
immersion  up  to  the  present,  and  this  includes  practically  all 
the  members.  However  with  lapses  and  deaths  the  decrease 
has  been  large.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  new  regime  will  at 
least  be  honest  in  reporting  the  strength  of  their  church,  t 

In  this  membership  are  found  the  rich  and  poor,  some 
(officers)  of  University  education,  but  mostly  humble  unlearned 

*  Voice  from  Zion.    Vol.  4,  No.  8,  p.  14. 

1  The  manager  of  Zion  Lace  Factory  writes  as  follows:  "'Dowie  gives 
and  has  given  since  1902  ten  thousand  as  Zion's  population.  !  happened 
to  be  once  in  a  cabinet  meeting  with  him  and  other  officers  when  this 
question  came  up.  His  personal  attendant,  C.  F.  Stern,  who  has  recently 
died  had  had  a  census  taken  of  houses  and  people.  This  was  somewhere 
in  spring  1903.  He  said  there  was  one  thousand  houses  and  allowing 
eight  persons  to  a  house  you  have  eight  thousand:  fine  way  to  get  at  the 
population.  He  found  his  census  was  coming  short  on  actual  count  by  a 
long  way  from  Dr.'s  given  statement  and  he  stopped  the  actual  count  and 
adopted  the  eight  people  to  a  house  method,  and  to  get  his  average  as  high 
as  that  he  sampled  for  counting  big  houses  where  boarders  were  kept. 
Dowie  wouldn't  accept  his  figures  and  said  he  knew  there  were  more 
people.  My  own  opinion  is  that  between  six  and  seven  thousand  is  the 
right  estimate."  As  a  matter  of  fact  when  Mr.  Voliva  made  a  census  of  the 
city  it  was  found  to  contain  just  5,387  persons. 


4  JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 

people.  It  is  claimed  that  over  seventy  nationalities  are  to  be 
found  enrolled  in  Zion.  *  Branches  and  stations  are  to  be 
found  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  All  over  the  United  States 
and  in  Canada,  Zion  has  established  preaching  points  and 
carries  on  an  aggressive  evangelistic  campaign.  In  the  United 
Kingdom,  in  many  provinces  of  Europe,  in  Asia  and  Africa, 
Zion's  representatives  are  preaching  their  threefold  gospel  of 
Salvation,  Healing  and  Holy  Living. 

The  publications  of  Zion  are  now  printed  or  have  been,  in 
German,  French,  Danish,  Norwegian,  Dutch,  with  some  little 
work  done  in  Chinese  and  Japanese.t 

In  an  interview  at  Havana,  Cuba,  published  in  Leaves  of 
Healing,  Vol.  i6,  No.  20,  p.  638,  Mr.  Dowie  says,  "The  C. 
C.  A.  C.  now  extends  over  the  whole  world.  We  have  many 
branches  in  Australia  under  an  Overseer  and  Elders  for  in- 
stance " 

Interviewer,  "Are  you  in  touch  with  them  and  do  they 
recognize  you  as  their  leader?" 

Mr.  Dowie.  "Yes,  and  our  organization  is  very  close.  I 
am  the  First  Apostle  and  General  Overseer  of  the  church. 
There  are  Overseers,  which  are  the  same  as  Bishops;  Elders, 
Evangelists,  Deacons  and  Deaconesses.  And  then  we  have  a 
peculiar  organization — peculiar  because  it  has  never  been  in 
its  present  form,  in  the  church  before — called  Zion  Restora- 
tion Host.  They  are  picked  members  of  the  church  whom  we 
first  organized  in  two's  then  made  them  ten's,  and  then  made 
them  seventies,  and  thoroughly  trained  them.  We  have  from 
eight  to  ten  thousand  of  them  in  all  parts  of  the  world  and 
they  are  under  a  special  vow  to  God,  to  myself  as  Elijah  the 
Restorer — foretold  by  Malachi,  by  St.  Peter  and  by  the  Christ 
himself.  I  can  take  a  legion  of  them,  as  I  did  for  instance  to 
New  York,  three  thousand  strong,  in  October  of  1903."  X 

*Mr.  Dowie's  statement  in  L.  of  H.,  Vol.  16,  No.  20. 
f  Pamphlet,  Many  Sided  Views  of  Zion.   Since  the  sickness  of  Mr. 
Dowie  the  publication  work  has  been  very  irregular. 

X  The  vow  to  which  the  members  of  the  Zion  Restoration  Host  sub- 


liNTRODUCTION 


5 


The  official  organ  of  the  movement  is  the  Leaves  of  Healing 
published  weekly  in  English,  occasionally  in  German  as 
Blatter  der  Heilung.  and  in  French  as  Feuilles  de  Guerisson, 
by  John  Alexander  Do\vie  at  Zion  City,  111.,  U.  S.  A.  It  pur- 
ports to  be  "a  weekly  paper  for  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God,"  and  an  application  for  entry  as  second  class  matter 
is  pending.  Each  issue  records  answers  to  prayers  for  heal- 
ing, and  contains  a  sermon  or  sermons  by  its  editor  and  pub- 
lisher. Numerous  pamphlets  are  published  from  time  to  time, 
the  advertising  lists  containing  titles  to  books  and  tracts  on: 
I.  Zion,  Her  Organization,  Truths  and  Leader;  2.  Zion's 
Replies  to  Her  Enemies  and  Critics;  3.  The  Evils  Zion  Ex- 
poses and  Condemns;  4.  Divine  Healing  and  Its  Truths  as 
Taught  in  Zion;  5.  Prayer  and  Its  Conditions  as  Realized  in 
Zion;  6.  Zion's  Standard  of  Consecration  and  Sanctified  Liv- 

scribe  is  given  on  the  blank  form  for  application.  "1  vow  in  the  name  of 
God.  my  Father,  and  of  Jesus  Christ.  His  Son  and  my  Saviour,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  who  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  that  1  will  be  a 
faithful  member  of  Zion  Restoration  Host,  organized  at  Shiloh  Tabernacle 
in  the  City  of  Zion  on  Lord's  Day,  September  21,  1902,  and  1  declare  that 
I  recognize  John  Alexander  Uowie,  General  Overseer  of  the  C.  C.  C.  in 
Zion,  of  which  I  am  a  member,  in  his  threefold  office,  as  the  Messenger  of 
the  Covenant,  the  Prophet  foretold  by  Moses,  and  Elijah  the  Restorer. 

1  promise  to  the  fullest  extent  of  my  powers,  to  obey  all  rightful  orders 
issued  by  him  directly  or  by  his  properly  appointed  officers,  and  to  pro- 
ceed to  any  part  of  the  world,  wherever  he  shall  direct,  as  a  member  of 
Zion  Restoration  Host,  and  that  all  family  ties  and  obligations,  and  all 
relations  to  all  human  governments  shall  be  held  subordinate  to  this  vow, 
this  declaration  and  this  promise. 

This  I  make  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  the  visible  and  invisible 
witnesses." 

Mr.  Dowie  and  Zion  have  strenuously  opposed  the  oath  administered 
by  secret  societies,  and  he  has  evidently  tried  to  word  this  vow  so  as  to 
make  it  appear  other  than  an  oath,  but  there  has  seldom  been  a  submis- 
sion expressed  in  the  vow  of  a  religious  order  more  absolute  than  this.  It 
has  of  course  been  conditioned  by  many  circumstances  which  in  many 
ways  practically  annulled  its  stringency,  but  it  represents  in  the  main  the 
authority  of  Mr.  Dowie  in  Zion,  and  his  capacity  for  using  men  to  further 
Zion's  interests. 


6 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


ing;  7.  Devotional  and  Inspirational  Tracts.  A  semi-weekly 
newspaper,  the  Zion  Banner  is  also  edited  by  Mr.  Dowie  and 
published  at  Zion  City. 

Zion  City  is  now  the  headquarters  of  the  Zion  movement. 
It  is  located  on  Lake  Michigan,  42  miles  north  of  Chicago, 
and  has  had  at  one  time  a  population  of  approximately  8,000. 

Mr.  Dowie  formed  the  Zion  Land  and  Investment  Association, 
February  22,  1899,  promising  at  that  time  if  Christians  would 
cooperate  with  him,  he  would  thru  that  association  select  and 
secure  near  Chicago,  a  site  for  Zion  City."^  January  1,  1900, 
in  Central  Zion  Tabernacle,  Chicago,  111.,  Mr.  Dowie  an- 
nounced to  his  people  that  6,500  acres,  more  than  ten  square 
miles,  had  been  secured  in  Benton  Township,  Lake  County, 
111.  On  Saturday,  July  14,  1900,  the  site  for  Zion  Temple  in 
Shiloh  Park  was  consecrated  by  Mr.  Dowie  in  the  presence  of 
ten  thousand  people.  One  year  later,  Monday,  July  15,  1901, 
the  gates  of  Zion  City  were  opened,  and  in  about  a  week  all 
the  lots  then  offered,  were  disposed  of  to  intending  residents 
of  Zion  City.  On  Friday,  August  2,  1901,  the  first  residence 
in  Zion  City  was  ready  for  occupancy,  and  before  winter, 
hundreds  of  houses  had  sprung  up  where  a  little  before  had 
been  a  barren  tract.  March  31,  1902,  Zion  City  was  organized 
and  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 

The  Theocratic  Party  was  organized  April  7,  1902,  and 
municipal  officers  elected  on  this  ticket.  It  is  interesting  to 
notice  the  platform  of  this  part>',  which  is  the  political  creed 
of  Zion.  "The  Citizens  of  the  City  of  Zion,  Lake  County, 
State  of  Illinois,  being  assembled  in  their  first  convention, 
held  in  Zion  City,  on  the  night  of  Monday,  April  7,  1902,  for 
the  purpose  of  nominating  the  first  officers  of  their  city,  do  so 
on  a  Theocratic  Platform,  and  desire  to  set  forth  their  position 
and  their  reasons  for  the  formation  of  this  new  party  in 
political  affairs  of  the  U.  S.  of  America,  in  the  manner  follow- 
ing: 

*  Pamphlet,  City  of  Zion.  From  which  most  of  the  facts  about  Zion 
City  are  taken.    The  statistics  are  often  exaggerated  in  this  report. 


INTRODUCTION 


First.  We  declare  our  loyalty  to  the  Constitution  and  laws 
of  the  U.  S.  of  America. 

Second.  We  affirm  that  both  the  Constitution  and  the  Laws 
are  capable  of  amendment  and  improvement  in  a  Theocratic 
direction;  and  we  simph'  propose  to  advocate  the  making  of 
such  alterations  in  the  manner  provided  by  the  Laws  of  the 
United  States. 

Third.  We  declare  the  motto  of  our  party  to  be  the  unalter- 
able and  unassailable  truth  that 

WHERE  GOD  RULES  MAN  PROSPERS. 

Fourth.  Our  object  is  therefore  the  establishment  of  the 
Rule  of  God  in  every  department  of  government,  by  the  free 
will  of  the  people. 

Fifth.  We  declare  our  conviction  that  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures which  contain  the  ten  commandments,  and  the  inspired 
Gospel  of  Jesus,  the  Christ  the  son  of  God,  constitute  the 
principles  of  all  righteous  government  for  the  individual,  for 
the  nation,  and  for  the  whole  world." 

*ln  a  personal  letter  to  me  under  date  of  Dec.  11,  190=;,  a  prominent 
Zion  official  says:  "We  are  face  to  face  with  some  problems  of  consider- 
able diftkulty  at  this  time,  but  I  believe  God  will  give  us  the  solution  and 
that  the  future  will  see  the  work  of  Zion  stronger  than  ever  before  and  in- 
creasing in  strength  each  succeeding  year.  The  working  out  of  a  theo- 
cratic ideal  by  those,  who  for  the  most  part,  were  born  and  raised  in  a 
community  where  a  democratic  ideal  has  been  in  vogue,  in  a  country 
which  is  fundamentally  democratic,  has  of  necessity  involved  the  doing  of 
many  things  which,  like  everything  in  its  first  stage,  are  more  or  less 
crude.  This  is  not  an  age  of  the  full  realization  of  an  ideal  but  of  an  ap- 
proximation of  the  same,  and  thus  we  shall  go  on  approximation  after  ap- 
proximation until  we  have  realized  in  full  the  theocratic  ideal  ir.  the  next 
dispensation.  There  is  much  in  the  community  and  in  this  work  which 
is  still  potential  but  the  future  is  big  with  possibilities  which  year  after 
year  will  be  a  reality." 

Mr.  Dowie  would  hardly  be  as  candid  in  acknowledgment  of  defects  or 
imperfections  in  the  theocratic  scheme,  but  the  recent  events  with  the  ap- 
pointment of  an  Overseer  to  succeed  him  at  Zion  City  during  his  sickness, 
and  the  severing  of  the  religious  and  ecclesiastical  side  of  Zion's  work 
from  the  commercial,  are  against  him.    The  management  of  the  business 


8 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


Zion  is  thus  seen  to  be  interested  in  politics.  Mr.  Dowie 
says,'^  "The  city  is  governed  municipally  according'  to  the 
law  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  We  bow  to  these  as  ^ood  citizens,  and  we  have  our 
charter  from  the  state.  Our  mayor  is  elected  by  the  people, 
and  our  aldermen  and  judge  are  elected,  and  all  officers.  But 
I  may  as  well  tell  you  the  people  would  not  vote  a  ticket  if  I 
did  not  aijprove  it.  T  There  is  one  ticket  and  one  vote.  In 
voting  for  Roosevelt  the  other  day,  I  took  pains  with  my 
people  and  instructed  them  in  the  issues  before  the  nation,  and 
in  the  political  condition  of  things  from  our  point  of  view  as 
Theocrats — belii'\  t  i  s  in  the  Rule  of  God  ...  I  said,  'Why 
shouldn't  \\e  all  \(;te  for  Roosevelt?'  Our  cit\'  is  a  very 
young  city,  and  a  great  many  of  our  people  could  not  vote 
.  .  .  W^e  have  to  live  a  certain  time  in  a  place  to  be  able  to 
vote;  and  so  of  the  ten  thousand  people  less  than  1,300  men 
could  vote.  We  polled  if  I  remember  correctly,  about  1,260 
votes  and  they  were  all  for  Roosevelt.  Only  16  Democratic 
ballots  were  cast,  and  they  came  in  from  outside  coimtry  dis- 
tricts, and  did  not  belong  to  Zion.  We  were  President 
Roosevelt's  banner  city." 

There  have  been  fovmded  in  Zion  Cit\-  a  number  of  indus- 
tries and  institutions,  some  of  which  have  had  a  season  of 
prosperity;  some  of  which  have  been  or  are  in  a  precarious 
condition,  .t 

affairs  under  the  theocratic  ideal  of  municipal  politics  has  been  a  failure 
because  much  of  a  farce  under  Mr.  Dowie's  system  of  absolutism.  He  is 
the  real  cause  of  the  failure.  (See  article  on  "The  Passing  of  Dr.  Dowie" 
in  The  World  To-f)ay,  April  1906,  which  title  however  is  somewhat  pre- 
mature unless  Mr.  Dowie  should  be  good  enough  to  die  and  fulfill  the  ele- 
ment of  prediction  in  the  title.) 

*  Interview  published  in  L.  of  H.,  Vol.  16,  No.  20,  p.6f3. 

f  This  we  could  imagine  was  said  with  a  twinkle  of  the  eye,  but  it  is  a 
commentary  upon  the  absolutism  of  Mr.  Dowie  who  is  supreme  in  Zion. 
One  can  hardly  see  how  a  Theocratic  Party  rally  could  call  forth  the 
amount  of  enthusiasm  they  are  reported  to  have  done. 

t  The  following  is  from  a  letter  written  to  me  by  the  Manager  of  the 


INTRODUCTION 


9 


Everything  is  under  the  absolute  ownership  and  control  of 
Mr.  Dowie.  Zion  City  bank,  general  stores,  planing  mill, 
brick  Aards,  fresh  food  supply,  laundry,  construction  depart- 
ment, printing  and  publishing  house,  hospices,  lace  industries 
and  the  like,  recognize  him  as  proprietor.  In  a  burlesque  on 
Zion  occur  these  words,  "Elijah  II  is  everything  from  Founda- 
tion to  the  Lightning  Rod  of  the  entire  institution."  This  is 
certainly  true,  as  advertisements,  notices,  and  every  publica- 

Zion  Lace  Factory,  dated  April  25,  190S.  and  illustrates  the  general  busi- 
ness methods  of  Mr.  Dowie  and  the  reasons  for  the  precarious  condition  of 
the  commercial  departments  of  Zion. 

"I  do  not  consider  Mr.  Dowie  sincere  for  this  reason  (one  of  many.  )  In 
his  paper  Leaves  of  Healing  he  causes  to  be  published  statements  concern- 
ing Zion  City  and  its  prosperity,  which  are  false  and  misleading.  People 
are  here  from  England  and  Australia  practically  stranded  and  who  cannot 
get  employment,  which  they  had  been  confidently  led  to  expect,  both 
from  Overseers  in  England  and  Australia  and  by  the  glowing  reports  pub- 
lished in  L.  of  H.  Further  1  have  seen  what  I  supposed  to  be  errors,  in 
his  statements  concerning  the  Lace  Factory  and  its  business  which  I  con- 
sidered, if  allowed  to  pass  deceiving  the  people.  1  have  more  than  once 
respectfully  written  giving  him  the  true  facts  and  suggesting  correction  in 
following  issue  of  paper,  which  was  never  done.  Many  things  are  so 
highly  colored  as  to  practically  amount  to  wilful  deception,  as  most  of  the 
people  accept  what  is  written  by  him  as  gospel  truth.  Commercialism  is 
the  stone  over  which  Dowie  has  fallen.  Lust  for  power  is  another  .  .  . 
None  but  Dowie  can  manage  the  situation  as  it  is.  But  1  ought  to  have 
said  mismanaged,  for  it  is  gradually  growing  worse  and  more  complicated 
financially.  .  .  .  It's  the  hardest  kind  of  work  to  keep  going.  Machinery 
has  had  to  be  stopped  many  times  for  yarn.  Not  because  it  has  not  been 
ordered  but  because  money  has  not  been  forwarded  for  bills  long  overdue. 
Zion's  strength  as  a  city  lies  in  her  industries  and  these  should  be  built 
up  regardless  of  anything.  But  the  reverse  has  been  done.  Mr.  Dowie 
appointed  me  manager  in  1901  and  on  our  judgment  and  information  and 
help  the  factory  has  been  built  .  .  .  We  did  not  ask  for  so  large  a 
building  and  considered  it  bad  policy  to  tie  up  capital  in  more  bricks  and 
mortar  than  was  necessary  at  first  We  have  a  building  capable  of  con- 
taining 82  machines  and  containing  18  only.  .  .  .  How  the  finances  are 
managed  I  never  could  find  out.  I  as  manager  of  Lace  Factory  did  not 
or  was  not  allowed  to  keep  books.  That  was  done  up  at  the  bank.  I 
found  in  1902  they  wasn't  paying  the  yarn  bills  and  1  point  blank  asked 


lo  JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 

tion  bear  witness,  to  which  is  added  the  uniform  testimony  of 
those  who  have  been  residents  in  Zion  whether  or  not  mem- 
bers of  the  C.  C.  C. 

Among  the  Institutions  of  Zion  the  system  of  education 
deserves  especial  notice.  *  At  the  Spring  Convocation,  1905, 
the  claim  was  made  that  Zion  educational  institutions  had 
completed  six  years  of  splendid  progress  and  that  the  future 
was  bright  with  the  immediate  prospect  of  a  university.  Mr. 
Dowie  is  head  or  president  of  these  institutions;  the  work  of 
administering  them  being  done  by  the  Vice-Pres.  Rev.  H.  D. 
Braisefield,  Ph.  B.  (Lafayette,  Col.),  and  former  student  at 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  and  Presbyterian  minister,  t 

them  what  they  were  doing  with  the  money  they  received  for  Lace  in- 
dustry Stock,  as  they  were  a  corporation.  They  told  me  mind  my  own 
business  and  they  would  attend  to  theirs.  1  said  all  right  I  won't  order 
yarn  if  you  don't  pay  the  bills.  .  .  .  They  found  they  didn't  need  me 
as  manager  any  longer,  1  knew  too  much  and  spoke  my  mind.  1  have  a  con- 
tract however  which  specifies  my  pay  but  not  my  position.  I  challenged 
their  cause  for  removal  as  manager,  and  they  wouldn't  discuss  the  matter. 
1  had  two  orthree  interviews  with  Dowie  and  told  him  in  speech  to  his  face 
and  also  in  letters  what  I  tliought  of  things.  I  practically  dared  him  to 
dismiss  me  so  I  could  sue  him  in  cojjrtand  reveal  all  I  knew  but  he  was 
too  wily  for  that."  (He  continued  to  draw  salary  altho  not  allowed  to 
manage  the  Lace  Factory.)  He  says  further.  •'This  Lace  Factory  is  three 
times  overcapitalized  and  I  have  challenged  him  to  give  a  statement  of 
what  he  has  done  with  the  money  before  asking  for  more.  In  the  agree- 
ment made  between  Dowie  and  stockholders  he  states  if  dividends 
promised  were  not  paid  out  of  profits  in  July,  1902,  he  would  cause  a 
statement  to  be  issued  showing  conditions  and  how  long  they  would  have 
to  wait  before  receiving  such  dividends,  and  only  on  non-payment  of 
dividends  can  anyone  call  for  an  accounting.  I  challenged  him  on  that 
very  condition  and  said,  as  manager  I  very  well  knew  that  no  profit  had 
been  made  at  that  time  and  that  he  really  owed  the  stockholders  a  state- 
ment which  he  avoided  by  paying  dividends  out  of  capital  and  has  done 
so  ever  since.  ...  I  have  grown  up  with  the  lace  business  and  there- 
fore could  tell  by  what  lace  we  were  turning  out  and  what  wages  we  were 
paying  that  no  adequate  profit  had  been  made  on  capital  subscribed.  And 
yet  he  gives  glowing  accounts  of  the  great  success  of  his  Lace  Factory." 
*  L.  of  H.,  Vol.  17,  No.  12. 

tSee  biographical  sketch,  L.  of  H.,  Vol.  17,  No.  12. 


INTRODUCTION 


II 


A  diploma  from  these  schools  claims  to  establish  and  certify 
the  Christian  character  of  its  holder,  for  not  only  do  the}' 
teach  one  "knowledge,"  but  "wisdom,"  or  how  to  pra}', 
for  "a  man  or  woman  who  knows  how  to  praj* — not  merely  to 
say  prayers — is  in  right  relations  with  God  and  with  all  his 
works,"  and  is  supposed  to  have  "wisdom."*  It  was  on 
October  i8,  1898  that  Mr.  Dowie  gave  an  address  to  his 
people  entitled  "The  Spirit  of  Instruction, "  based  upon  Neh. 
9:20,  and  announced  that  the  time  had  come  for  the  C.  C.  C. 
in  Zion  to  take  up  the  responsibility  of  training  her  own 
ministry  and  workers.  They  had  come  without  exception 
from  the  denominations  and  the  school  has  not  been  in  exist- 
ence long  enough  to  furnish  Zion  with  Zion  made  ministers 
and  teachers.  He  said  there  was  to  be  a  Ministerial  Training 
School  in  which  the  teaching  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  was  to  be 
a  prominent  feature  "in  order  that  messengers  of  Zion  might 
become  intelligent  students  and  interpreters  of  the  Scrip- 
tures."! 

*L.  ot  H.,  Vol.  17,  No.  12.  p.  386. 

tThe  Principal  of  the  Ministerial  Training  School  from  the  first  has 
been  Elder  W.  H.  Cossum.  A.  M.,  a  man  of  deep  earnestness  and  un- 
questioned sincerity.  A  former  classmate  of  his  at  Colgate  Universitv', 
Hamilton.  N.  Y.,  now  an  officer  of  that  institution,  says  of  him  in  a  per- 
sonal letter  to  me:  '"1  never  knew  a  truer  or  more  devoted  Christian  than 
he  is  or  a  man  who  was  a  better  fellow  as  a  college  student.  He  was 
genuine  through  and  through  and  I  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  has 
changed  in  that  respect.  It  is  something  of  a  surprise  to  me  that  he  should 
have  been  attracted  by  Dowie.  altho  there  were  features  of  his  life  after 
leaving  college  which  showed  him  to  be  rather  disposed  in  such  a  direction. 
The  only  thing  that  lean  say  by  way  of  accounting  for  what  may  seem 
erratic  in  him  is  that  he  is  a  man  of  most  intense  character,  of  strong  im- 
pulses, with  possibly  some  tendency  to  go  to  extremes.  He  is  certainly  a 
conscientious  man  and  one  who  would  follow  wherever  his  conscience 
might  lead  him.  As  a  student  he  was  jovial  and  fun-loving  and  a 
thoroughly  genial  companion,  as  well  as  a  man  of  excellent  scholarship. 
He  was  at  the  same  time  strongly  devoted  to  all  religious  duties,  and  his 
extreme  seriousness  at  times  made  an  apparent  contrast  with  his  usual 
geniality." 

Mr.  Cossum  would  doubtless  have  been  advanced  by  Mr.  Dowie  to  a 


12 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


On  February  14,  i8qq,  Zion  College  was  established.  * 
The  prosptctus  which  was  distributed  contained  in  addition 
to  the  faculty  roster  a  statement  of  the  purpose  of  Zion's 
educational  work,  wliich  formed  the  basis  of  what  was 
pompously  called  the  president's  first  inaugural  address. 
"The  purpose  of  this  advance  movement  in  Zion  is  to  pre- 
pare workers  for  service  in  the  Master's  Kingdom,  who  shall 
be  e(iuipi>(-d  to  teach  the  full  Gospel  as  interpreted  and 
taught  bv  the  C.  C.  C.  .  .  .  It  will  seek  to  supply  deficien- 
cies of  early  training  in  members  of  Zion  who  wish  to  fit 
themselves  for  fuller  usefulness  by  improving  opportunities 
offered.  .  .  .  The  aim  and  object  of  all  work  in  the  college 
is  distinctively  religious,  and  is,  above  all,  to  teach  men  to 
l)ray  so  as  to  receive  answers  to  their  petitions." 

The  enrollment  at  the  beginning  of  the  school  year  1904-5, 
made  on  the  basis  of  the  last  place  of  residence  before  coming 
to  Zion  City,  showed  38  states  and  territories,  and  lu  foreign 
countries  represented  by  at  least  one  student.  The  facult}- 
has  grown  from  18  to  75  and  the  number  of  students  from  29 
to  2,136. t 

There  is  a  preparatory  school  taking  the  place  of  the 
ordinary  academy,  and  junior  schools  filling  out  the  graded 
school  system,,  taught  and  administered  after  the  model  of 
most  city  schools. 

The  worship  of  Zion  is  what  takes  up  most  of  the  si)are 
time  of  the  people.  In  fact  they  make  a  business  of  religion. 
Morning,  noon  and  night,  cottage  prayer  meetings  are  held 

higher  office  in  Zion  but  for  his  well-known  independence.  He  was  the 
only  one  remaining  in  Zion  with  whom  1  had  any  conversation  or  cor- 
respondence who  dared,  before  Mr.  Dowie's  sickness  in  tlie  late  autumn 
of  1905,  to  say  that  "Dowie  is  not  the  whole  thing  in  Zion."  He  has  at- 
tempted to  organize  the  Ministerial  Training  School  somewhat  after  the 
scheme  of  courses  and  studies  of  Hamilton  Theological  Seminary  of 
Hamilton,  N.  Y. 

*L.  of  H.  Vol.  17,  No.  12,  p.  389. 

t  Report  Spring  1905,  L.  of  H.  Vol.  17,  No.  12,  p.  390. 


INTRODUCTION 


13 


in  most  of  the  homes,  and  if  any  one  has  additional  time  and 
further  inclination  he  may  attend  Bible  readings  or  Healing 
meetings  at  Hospice  or  Tabernacle,  at  odd  hours. 

The  central  place  of  meeting  is  Shiloh  Tabernacle,  *  a  long 
wooden  building  with  gallery  on  three  sides,  capable  of  seat- 
ing about  eight  thousand  persons.  It  is  here  that  the  Sun- 
day afternoon  general  service  is  held,  at  which  time  all  who 
can  possibly  do  so,  assemble  for  worship.  In  the  summer  a 
large  number  of  members  and  visitors  come  from  Chicago  and 
Milwaukee.  The  service  begins  with  a  processional  sung  by  the 
robed  choir  of  more  than  five  hundred  voices  as  they  march  in. 
First  come  the  tiny  children  who  at  the  beginning  of  the  ser- 

*  The  ultimate  aim  of  Mr.  Dowie  has  been  to  have  a  magnificent  temple 
called  Shiloh  Tabernacle  to  seat  16,000  people  erected  in  the  central  and 
most  commanding  location  in  Zion  City.  On  the  back  of  the  cover  of  the 
program  for  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  (a  yearly  series  of  special  services 
lasting  nearly  two  weeks)  July  13th  to  July  24th,  1904,  a  picture  of  this 
prospective  temple  was  printed  with  the  statement  that  the  building  is 
"Now  in  course  of  construction."  This  was  one  of  Mr.  Dowie's  promoting 
schemes  as  the  only  thing  that  had  been  done  was  to  plow  a  line  around 
the  temple  site,  and  with  a  great  demonstration  to  remove  a  few  shovels  of 
earth  with  a  steam  shovel  bought  by  special  contributions  for  the  purpose. 
An  official  writes,  April  29,  190S:  "He  is  wilfully  misrepresenting  facts 
and  misleading  the  people.  With  the  tacts  so  plainly  before  me  every  day 
1  cannot  come  to  any  other  conclusion.  One  instance,  in  1903  he  had  plans 
drawn  and  actually  passed  for  building  a  steel  and  concrete  temple  to  seat 
16,000.  To  begin  excavations  he  ordered  a  steam  shovel  which  was  sent 
and  erected.  The  Sunday  before  he  began  to  use  the  steam  shovel  he  had 
a  subscription  meeting  for  the  new  Temple  and  people  walked  up  to  the 
platform  and  put  their  gifts  into  a  big  barrel.  A  day  or  so  later  Dowie 
himself  started  the  steam  shovel  on  its  work  before  an  admiring  crowd  of 
adherents.  In  his  speech  to  them  he  mentioned  the  good  collection  they 
had  on  the  preceding  Sunday  and  said  there  was  enough  given  to  pay 
for  two  steam  shovels  and  perhaps  three,  but  he  wouldn't  say  how  much 
definitely.  Here  is  the  sequel.  Three  or  four  months  later  the  firm  who 
supplied  the  steam  shovel  put  a  man  in  possession,  painted  Dowie's  name 
off  and  he  was  here  four  or  five  weeks  pendingsettlement  of  account.  .  .  . 
What  had  he  done  with  the  people's  money  collected  for  the  purpose 
which  he  himself  said  was  more  than  sufficient  to  pay  the  bill.  Used  it 
for  some  other  purpose  unknown." 


14 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


vice  are  fresh  and  alert,  but  who  find  the  lengthy  meeting 
wearisome.  Then  the  boys  and  girls  follow,  the  entire  choir 
being  graded  on  up  to  white  haired  old  men  and  women.  The 
black  gowns,  with  the  white  surplices  and  the  mortar  board 
caps,  make  a  splendid  appearance  as  the  singers  arrange 
themselves  in  the  rear  of  the  platform  and  pulpit  desk  where 
the  "Apostle"  will  stand  to  conduct  the  service.  The 
seventies  and  the  officers  all  robed  in  black  come  in  next  with 
the  Zion  Guard  and  take  seats  in  front  of  the  speaker.  Pre- 
ceded by  a  few  of  his  most  trusted  officers,  the  beautifully 
gowned  "Apostle"  slowly  ascends  the  platform  and  assumes 
his  place  as  priest  to  officiate  for  his  people. 

The  lengthy  program  of  the  general  service  would  tire  the 
average  church  goer  because  of  its  monotony  and  tediousness. 
As  the  "First  Apostle"  comes  upon  the  platform  the  people 
rise  and  stand  with  bowed  heads  while  the  invocation, 

"God  be  merciful  unto  us  and  bless  us, 
And  cause  thy  face  to  shine  upon  us; 
That  Thy  Way  may  be  known  upon  earth, 
Thy  Saving  Health  among  all  the  Nations 
For  the  sake  of  Jesus.  Amen." 

is  pronounced.  A  hymn  is  followed  by  the  recitation  of  the 
Apostle's  creed.  The  recitatation  of  the  Ten  Commandments 
follows  with  the  choir  and  congregation  chanting  a  response 
to  each.  After  the  singing  of  the  Te  Deum  Laudemus  by 
the  choir  comes  a  Scripture  reading  and  exposition  usually 
led  by  Mr.  Dowie  or  the  one  presiding  at  the  service,  if  he  be 
absent.  If  Mr.  Dowie  be  i)resent  this  is  often  his  place  for 
denouncing  everything  and  everybody  who  does  not  accord 
with  his  ideas  or  notions.  The  Scri])ture  is  simply  ])oint  of 
departure,  and  along  the  line  that  any  word  or  phrase  may 
suggest,  the  speaki.r  goes  his  automatic  way,  and  seldom  does 
one  feel  able  to  discover  any  thread  running  through  the  ex- 
position, save  as  some  occurrence  of  an  irritating  nature  fresh 
in  the  "Apostle's"  mind,  furnishes  him  with  stimulus  for 
abuse  and  vitui)eration  well  nigh  past  credibility,  if  -one  had 


INTRODUCTION 


15 


never  heard  him  at  it.  Notices  with  long  comment  and  a 
pra_ver  of  great  length  are  usually  inserted  somewhere,  and 
the  "Message"  or  sermon  is  long  drawn  out  so  that  the  whole 
service  lasts  four  hours  or  more. 

Mr.  Dowie  has  attempted  to  reproduce  the  especially 
spectacular  features  of  the  more  ritualistic  churches,  and  with 
music  that  is  far  above  the  ordinary,  would  have  an  attractive 
service  indeed,  if  he  were  not  so  much  in  evidence  and  so 
wearisome.  However  he  seems  to  furnish  most  of  the  spice 
for  the  larger  meeting,  for  in  his  absence  it  is  tame  enough. 
Mr.  Voliva  seems  to  be  able  to  fill  the  place  of  Mr.  Dowie  in 
this  regard  more  than  could  any  other  officer  of  Zion. 

Triune  immersion  is  the  form  of  baptism  used  in  Zion  and 
the  communion  service  is  open  to  all  Christians  who  wish  to 
participate.  There  are  a  number  of  peculiarities  of  a  religious 
nature  one  sees  in  Zion  City.  The  ordinary  greeting  is 
"Peace  to  Thee"  instead  of  "Good  morning,"  and  the  usual 
response  is  Peace  to  Thee  be  multiplied,"  and  if  the  He- 
brew language  were  being  used  instead  of  the  English 
translation  one  would  imagine  himself  among  the  Israelites  of 
old.  At  nine  A.  M.  the  whistle  at  the  power  house  blows 
and  for  two  minutes,  Mohammedan  fashion,  everybody  turns 
to  prayer  in  whatever  place  and  from  whatever  work  or 
occupation,  until  the  same  whistle  bids  them  turn  their 
thoughts  to  secular  things  again.  A  number  of  things  are 
entirely  forbidden  in  Zion  City.  Bill  boards  at  the  cross 
streets  caution  one  that  swearing  or  smoking  or  bad  language 
of  any  sort  are  not  allowed.  Zion  City  will  tolerate  no 
breweries,  no  saloons,  no  drug  or  tobacco  stores,  no  phy- 
sician's or  surgeon's  offices,  no  theaters,  no  gambling  places, 
no  dance  halls,  no  secret  lodge  rooms,  no  keeping  or  selling 

*  A  prayer  of  Mr.  Dowie's  that  was  timed  by  the  watch  lasted  exactly 
three-quarters  of  an  hour.  This  was  unusual  of  course,  but  the  last  two 
years,  his  characteristic  service  contained  a  long  denunciatory  prayer,  in 
which  he  gave  all  his  enemies  and  opponents  a  severe  thrashing  over  the 
shoulder  of  the  Lord. 


i6 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


of  swine's  flesh.  During  the  history  of  the  city  these  regula- 
tions have  been  rigidly  enforced,  in  fact  there  has  seldom 
been  any  attempt  at  infringement. 

Zion's  attitude  toward  Secretism  has  been  one  of  uncom- 
promising hostility.  Not  only  has  renunciation  of  member- 
ship in  any  secret  order  been  demanded  of  a  prospective 
member  of  Zion,t  but  an  agressive  warfare  has  been  waged. 
Hardly  any  issue  of  Leaves  of  Healing  but  contains  some 
allusion  to  Secretism  as  the  work  of  the  Devil,  as  a  revival  of 
Baalism,  or  some  other  form  of  heathen  idolatry.  Denuncia- 
tions of  men  of  high  official  positions  because  of  affiliation 
with  the  Masons  has  been  Mr.  Dowie's  reserve,  when  he  runs 
out  of  things  to  say  upon  the  topic  that  he  happens  to  be  dis- 

*The  people  of  Zion  City  are  carefully  watched,  and  there  is  constant 
fear  on  their  part  of  being  reported  for  even  slight  infringement  of  rules 
and  regulations,  as  spies  are  very  plentiful  and  reporting  a  person  is  com- 
mended by  Mr.  Dowie.  "He  believes  in  nipping  in  the  bud  if  he  gets  the 
chance.  Every  train  is  watched  coming  and  going  by  men  detailed  for 
that  work  at  the  depot,  and  suspicious  persons  watched."  (Letter 
from  Zion  City.) 

f'The  Freemasons,  with  sardonic  grin,  will  tell  you  that  their  religion 
is  older  than  Christianity.  That  is  true,  in  a  sense.  It  is  as  old  as  the 
Devil.  But  the  religion  of  the  Christ  is  older  even  than  that.  .  .  .  We 
give  them  back  their  impudent  boast,  and  tell  them  that  the  religion  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  the  Christ  antedates  their  mythical  and  accursed  sham  of 
the  resurrection  of  the  mythical  Hiram  Abiff.  .  .  .  We  declare  that  Jesus, 
the  Christ,  is  God,  and  we  are  at  issue  with  an  atheistic  and  ungodly 
Masonry  that  will  not  allow  His  name  to  be  mentioned  in  their  lodges, 
and  that  denies  His  divinity."  (Voice  of  the  First  Apostle  in  Shiloh 
Tabernacle,  Lord's  day  afternoon,  January  1,  1905  ) 

Mr.  Dowie  is  simply  an  Echo  of  that  agitation  against  secret  orders  that 
was  at  such  a  tense  pitch  in  JMew  York  state  after  the  alleged  abduction 
and  murder  of  Wm.  Morgan  in  1826.  (See  Riley  "The  Founder  of 
Mormonism,"  p.  161  ff. )  How  he  came  to  adopt  this  attitude  we  may  not 
say,  but  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  intense  feeling  against  Masonry 
which  has  practically  died  out  in  the  United  States  still  exists  in  Australia 
where  Mr.  Dowie  got  drawn  into  it.  He  published  what  purports  to  be  a 
confession  of  the  man  who  was  the  very  one  who  murdered  Morgan  at 
the  instigation  of  the  Masons. 


INTRODUCTION 


17 


cussing.  In  this  as  in  much  else  he  is  closely  imitated  b}'  the 
officers  of  Zion  who  never  lose  an  opportunity  to  reiterate 
their  chief's  deliverances,  even  to  audiences  who  have  heard 
them  over  and  over  again. 

An  incidental  matter  with  respect  to  Zion  is  its  attitude 
towards  the  race  question.  Mr.  Dowie  once  delivered  a  long 
harangue  upon  Miscegenation  t  endeavoring  to  show  that  the 
Bible  teaches  the  intermarrying  of  the  white  and  negro  races, 
citing  Moses  as  an  example.  Among  other  things  he  said, 
"I  stand  for  the  Restoration.  As  Elijah  the  Restorer  I  desire 
to  bring  back  again  the  strength  of  the  primitive  man;  and  I 
belive  from  my  spirit  that  if  the  ^-ellow,  the  brown,  the  black, 
and  the  white  man  could,  in  the  Christ  our  Lord,  and  in 
purity,  mingle  together  in  one  great  famihj  we  would  prob- 
ably get  the  type  of  man  Adam  was,  and  which  we  lost  at 
Babel  when  language  was  confounded  and  man  was  scat- 
tered. .  .  .  I  trust  that  there  shall  be  no  difference,  but  that 
we  shall  have  marriages  in  Zion  between  all  the  families  of 
the  one  great  race  upon  the  earth  ...  I  defend  miscegena- 
tion." A  cartoon  in  connection  with  this  shows  a  white  man 
leading  a  mulatto  girl  to  the  marriage  altar.  Zion,  however, 
has  never  seemed  to  take  this  view  seriously  and  could  hardly 
be  said  to  believe  in  miscegenation.  The  same  might  be  said 
of  a  number  of  Mr.  Dowie's  whimsies.  It  would  be  impos- 
sible to  spare  space  to  even  note  the  attitude  of  Zion,  or 
rather  Mr.  Dowie  upon  the  numerous  social  and  economic 
questions  before  the  American  people,  as  interesting  as  that 

*L.  of.  H.,  Vol.  16,  No.  20. 

t  L.  of  H.,  Vol.  13,  No.  22.  This  was  apropos  the  address  of  Mr.  John 
Temple  Graves  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  at  the  University-  of  Chicago  Convoca- 
tion, September  3,  1903.  iWr.  Dowie  had  been  invited  as  a  special  guest  of 
the  university  as  his  son  Gladstone  Dowie  was  to  receive  a  degree  from 
the  law  department,  and  on  the  following  Sunday  he  must  needs  take 
issue  with  the  attitude  of  Mr.  Graves.  Hence  the  form  of  his  address  on 
this  subject.  Like  much  of  Mr.  Dowie's  practical  teaching  this  is  a  tirade 
against  men  of  opposite  social  views. 


i8 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


might  be.  *  His  discussions  are  characterized  by  a  lack  of 
appreciation  of  the  true  principles  involved,  and  an  utter  dis- 
regard for  the  feelings  of  an}'  who  may  honestly  and  conscien- 
tiously hold  other  views.  He  seems  utterly  incapable  of  an 
impartial  examination  of  any  question,  and  can  only  regard 
those  of  another  opinion  as  devils  and  dastards. 

Early  in  IQ03  Mr.  Dowie  conceived  the  idea  of  a  New  York 
visitation.  B\-  visitation  he  meant  the  placing  of  a  large 
body  of  his  followers  in  the  metropolis  for  the  purpose  of 
assisting  him  in  what  might  be  called  a  gigantic  evangelistic 
campaign.  He  began  advertising  this  visitation,  and  in- 
cidentally spoke  of  the  probability  of  making  one  to  Salt  Lake 
city  to  root  out  Mormonism.  Another  to  London  later  with 
ten  thousand  of  his  people  was  also  mentioned. 

The  New  York  visitation  was  carefully  planned  and  about 
three  thousand  of  his  people  were  conveyed  from  Zion  City 
and  Chicago  to  the  metropolis.  Taking  the  Restoration  vow 
and  making  this  trip  if  able  to  do  so,  was  practically  made  a 
test  of  the  loyalty  of  a  resident  in  Zion  City.  The  journey 
was  made  in  special  trains,  and  the  visitation  was  so  widely 
advertised  that  New  York  was  on  the  qui  vive.  Meetings 
Were  held  in  Madison  Square  Garden  and  in  Carnegie  Music 
Hall,  during  part  of  October  and  November,  1903,  with  great 
crowds  in  attendance.  Nothing  was  accomplished  except  the 
stirring  up  of  the  press  to  rabid  and  sarcastic  attacks  upon 
Mr.  Dowie  and  his  Zion,  and  his  disgracing  himself  and  his 
people,  by  thoroughly  losing  his  head  and  descending  to  vul- 
garit}'  in  speech  that  is  almost  past  belief.  This  attempt  at 
the  spectacular  cost  over  $300,000,  at  a  time  when  the 
finances  of  Zion  City  could  not  stand  the  strain. 

Many  even  of  his  own  followers  think  that  this  visitation 
ended  in  defeat,  and  very  greatly  hastened  Mr.  Dowie's  over- 
throw. It  certainly  ended  disastrously  so  far  as  finances  are 
concerned,  and  as  a  promoting  scheme  was   a  complete 

*  Mr.  Dowie's  teaching  has  not  ail  been  acquiesed  in  altho  no  dissent 
of  any  importance  was  heard  untii  Mr.  Voliva's  arrival. 


INTRODUCTION 


19 


failure,  and  scarcely  afforded  the  gratification  of  Mr.  Dowie's 
ideas  of  his  own  importance  and  power  which  evidently 
prompted  it. 

During  the  following  winter  and  spring  he  went  upon  what 
is  called  a  Round  the  World  visitation,  with  a  dozen  of  his 
officers.  They  visited  the  Orient  and  Australia,  spending 
large  sums  of  mone}-  and  not  materially  benefitting  the  Zion 
movement. 

Affairs  in  Zion  City  were  getting  very  bad  financially.  De- 
pression increased.  Many  of  the  people  were  being  allowed 
to  remain  idle,  and  capital  invested,  or  supposed  to  be  in- 
vested was  unproductive  over  long  periods.  Mr.  Dowie  com- 
manded the  people  to  sell  and  come  into  Zion  Cit}',  placing 
their  monej'  at  his  disposal.  November  28,  1904,  he  ordered 
every  person  residing  in  the  cit^-,  to  deposit  funds  in  Zion  City 
bank.  "l  have  a  list  of  all  persons  in  Zion  who  have  made 
no  deposits  since  I  sent  out  my  first  command,  and  I  tell  a'ou 
we  have  no  use  for  them.  If  they  don't  show  down  to-morrow 
they  will  be  expelled  from  Zion.  I  am  not  afraid  of  the  finan- 
cial condition  of  Zion.  I  do  not  know  what  fear  is.  The 
member  of  Zion  who  fears  to  put  his  mone}'  into  our  hands 
for  safe  keeping  is  a  coward  and  we  have  no  use  for  him  here. 
He  must  get  out.  We  can't  have  him  here  for  he  is  opposing 
the  Lord  by  refusing  to  entrust  his  wealth  in  Zion."  These 
are  his  reported  words,  and  approximateh'  sum  up  the  situa- 
tion with  respect  to  the  tyranny  that  was  tightening  its  grip  on 
an  over  credulous  following,  in  the  name  of  the  most  sacred 
religious  sanctions.  His  officers  knew  the  true  situation  and 
also  knew  the  agreement  upon  which  these  people  entered 
Zion,  and  yet  not  one  of  them  dared  raise  even  a  protest 
against  a  tyranny  the  like  of  which  has  seldom  been  equaled. 
No  redress  was  to  be  had  b^-  an  appeal  for  a  hearing  in  case  of 
refusal  to  accede  to  the  demarfds  of  Mr.  Dowie,  and  indeed  in 
man}'  cases  the  officers  were  the  instruments  of  the  execution 
of  the  threats  of  their^chief  who  dismissed  summarily,  any  who 
refused  to  surrender  all  independence  even  in  financial  affairs. 


20 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


Yet  the  people  trust  their  interests  in  the  keeping  of  these  same 
officers  after  Mr.  Dowie's  overthrow. 

However  this  command  of  Mr.  Dowie  did  not  relieve  the 
situation  ver}'  much.  In  an  indictment  against  the  deposed 
leader  presented  in  L.  of  H.,  Vol.  i8,  No.  25,  p.  439,  by  the 
revolting  officers  of  Zion,  it  is  stated: 

"He  commanded  all  members  of  the  Christian  Catholic  Church  in 
Zion  throughout  the  world  to  sell  all  they  had  and  come  to  Zion  City, 
placing  their  money  in  his  hands. 

He  sent  out  members  and  friends  of  Zion  wherever  he  could  to  borrow 
money  mortgaging  their  property,  if  they  had  any,  or  giving  their  own 
personal  notes,  if  they  could  get  any  one  to  take  them.  For  these  loans, 
he  gave  his  own  personal  notes  to  the  amount  of  Three  Hundred  Thousand 
Dollars  ($300,000.00.)  This  money  has  been  spent  in  paying  debts  and 
current  expenses;  there  is  nothing  productive  to  show  for  it,  and  the  interest 
on  these  notes  has  not  been  paid.  Many  of  them  have  matured,  and  those 
who  borrowed  have  suffered  great  loss  because  there  was  nothing  forth- 
coming to  pay  them. 

He  first  declared  that  Zion  should  never  borrow  a  cent  from  the  world— 
although  he  urged  Zion  people  to  borrow— then  declared  that  he  might 
borrow  Seven  Millions  of  Dollars  in  fulfillment  of  prophecy.  (See 
LEAVES  OF  HEALING,  Volume  XVII,  Number  4,  page  110).  Following 
this,  he  came  out  in  a  sermon,  entitled  "The  Policy  of  Zion"  (see  LEAVES 
OF  HEALING,  Volume  XVII,  Number  18,  page  585)  in  which  he  de- 
clared that  God  had  showed  him  that  he  must  not  borrow  from  the  world. 

While  Zion  City  was  in  this  crippled  and  suffering  financial  condition, 
he  launched  the  proposed  Zion  Paradise  Plantation  enterprise,  and  has 
spent  many  thousands  of  dollars  of.  the  money  invested  for  that  purpose; 
some  in  trips  to  and  through  Mexico,  some  for  other  purposes,  including 
personal  expenses. 

He  has  kept  up  large  and  expensive  personal  homes,  households,  and 
retinues  of  servants  in  Zion  City  and  at  Ben  MacDhui,  near  Montague, 
Michigan,  spending  many  thousands  of  dollars  in  improvements  upon  the 
Michigan  property,  at  a  time  when  he  was  commanding  all  members  of 
Zion  to  sell  all  they  had  and  bring  it  into  Zion  City.  He  also  bought 
what  he  called  Bethany  Park,  improved  it,  and  spent  several  thousand 
dollars  in  a  big  showy  encampment  there,  at  a  time  when  Zion  City's  in- 
dustries were  idle  for  want  of  a  few  thousand  dollars  working  capital. 

He  has  drained  Zion  City  Bank  of  its  deposits,  until  men  and  women 
who  have  large  deposits  there,  upon  which  they  were  depending  for  their 
living,  have  been  compelled  to  stand  in  line  f(Jr  hours,  and  even  days, 
waiting  for  a  dollar  or  two  out  of  thousands. 


INTRODUCTION 


21 


These  things  he  has  done  against  the  earnest  and  emphatic  protests  ot 
his  legal  and  financial  advisers,  threatening  them  with  discharge  when 
they  protested  too  vigorously,  and  promising  reform  in  some  particulars, 
only  to  break  all  his  promises. 

Many  of  these  practices  have  been  done  in  the  darkness,  so  that  very 
few  in  Zion,  even  among  those  nearest  him,  have  known  fully  of  the  real 
state  of  Zion's  affairs.  In  fact,  it  was  his  frequent  boast  that  he  alone 
knew  all  of  Zion's  finances. 

Such,  then,  was  the  condition  when  on  December  18,  1905,  he  left  Zion 
City  for  Jamaica. 

Just  before  leaving,  he  appointed  Overseer  John  G.  Speicher,  Deacon 
V.  V.  Barnes,  and  Deacon  Alexander  Granger,  as  a  "Triumvirate,"  with 
full  power  to  act  in  all  the  affairs  of  Zion." 

We  take  up  now  the  matter  of  the  protest  against  the  busi- 
ness mismanagement  of  Mr.  Dowie  during  the  last  two  years 
of  Zion's  history,  the  years  1904-05. 

The  first  one  from  a  man  of  any  special  influence  in  Zion 
was  made  by  Deacon  C.  J.  Barnard  who  had  been  associated 
with  Mr.  Dowie  in  the  Zion  financial  institutions  from  their  be- 
ginning. (L.  of  H.  Vol.  18,  No.  26,  p.  460.)  Early  in  1899 
Deacon  Barnard  was  appointed  cashier  of  Zion  City  Bank 
which  opened  its  doors  for  business  February  22,  1899,  in 
Chicago,  later  being  transferred  to  Zion  City.  Early  in  1901 
Mr.  Barnard  was  made  general  financial  manager  of  all  Zion 
institutions  and  industries,  and  manager  of  Zion  City  Bank, 
which  position  he  held  until  February,  1905.  (See  long  letter 
from  Mr.  Barnard,  Portland,  Ore.,  March  22,  1906,  to  Rev. 
Geo.  L.  Mason,  New  York  City,  in  L.  of  H.,  Vol.  18,  No.  26, 
p.  460;  also  a  letter  of  H.  Worthington  Judd  to  Rev.  J.  A. 
Dowie  dated  Zion  City,  111.,  October  6,  1902,  for  a  full  dis- 
cussion of  the  matter  of  the  protests  against  Mr.  Dowie's 
financial  policy.) 

An  even  stronger  protest  was  sent  to  Mr.  Dowie  April  13, 
1904,  while  he  was  in  Zurich,  Switzerland,  signed  by  the  three 
men  whom  he  had  left  in  charge  of  affairs  in  his  absence,  John 
G.  Speicher,  Chas.  J.  Barnard,  and  V.  V.  Barnes.  It  is  not 
certain  that  Mr.  Dowie  received  this  communication  altho  it  is 
probable  that  he  did. 


22 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


From  this  time  on  it  appears  that  there  was  an  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  business  managers  of  Zion  financial  institutions  to 
get  Mr.  Dowie  to  turn  over  the  commercial  affairs  of  Zion  to 
others  and  give  himself  to  the  specifically  religious  work.  He 
seems  however  to  have  been  utterly  regardless  of  all  advice, 
and  fully  determined  to  keep  everything  absolutely  in  his  own 
control. 

In  the  spring  of  1905  matters  became  almost  deperate,  and 
Mr.  Dowie's  presence  in  Zion  City  during  the  summer  of  1905 
did  not  relieve  the  situation  as  he  was  agitating  his  Paradise 
Plantation  schemes  in  Mexico  and  paying  little  or  no  attention 
to  the  local  financial  stringencies  and  industrial  depression. 
(See  same  copy  of  L.  of  H.,  p.  463.) 

On  September  24,  1905,  Mr.  Dowie  suffered  a  paral_vtic 
stroke  and  was  compelled  to  cease  active  participation  in  Zion 
affairs.  He  left  September  28  on  a  trip  to  Mexico  for  rest  re- 
turning November  26,  by  way  of  Havana,  Cuba.  In  attempt- 
ing to  address  his  people  in  Shiloh  Tabernacle  December  3rd, 
he  was  overcome  by  weakness  and  shortness  of  breath,  being 
compelled  to  abandon  the  service.  He  became  steadily  weaker 
and  it  was  decided  that  he  should  seek  a  warmer  climate.  He 
left  for  Jamaica,  December  18,  being  carried  to  his  private  car 
too  sick  to  stand,  scarcely  able  to  speak,  at  times  delirious. 
March  16,  1906,  he  left  Jamaica  and  went  to  Mexico. 

A  letter  from  Overseer  Wilbur  Glenn  Voliva,  dated  Novem- 
ber II,  1905,  at  Melbourne,  Australia,  (See  L.  of  H.,  Vol.  18, 
No.  9,  p.  263)  in  which  this  young  man  of  36  years  of  age, 
who  had  been  nearly  five  years  in  Australia,  professes  his  love 
and  confidence  and  loyalty  to  his  "First  Apostle"  together 
with  devotion  to  his  interests;  seems  to  be  the  thing  that  sug- 
gested to  Mr.  Dowie  where  he  might  find  the  man  after  his 
own  heart  to  put  in  full  charge  of  affairs  at  Zion  City. 

The  "Triumvirate"  composed  of  Overseer  John  G.  Speicher, 
Deacon  V.  V.  Barnes,  and  Deacon  Alexander  Granger  began 
their  administration  upon  the  departure  of  Mr.  Dowie,  December 
18,  1905,  with  the  full  confidence  of  Zion  people.  They  began 


INTRODUCTION 


23 


to  readjust  Zion's  commercial  affairs.  But  Mr.  Speicher  in- 
curred the  wrath  of  the  absent  "Apostle"  by  officiating  at  the 
marriage  of  Deacon  F.  W.  Cotton  and  Miss  Doris  Aufdem- 
berge,  and  a  telegram  was  sent  by  Mr.  Dowie  removing  Mr. 
Speicher  from  his  offices  and  membership,  "for  acting  as  the 
devil's  matrimonial  agent."  (See  L.  of  H.,  Vol.  18,  No.  25.) 
Mr.  Dowie  refused  to  revoke  this  action  after  the  matters  were 
explained  to  him  with  regard  to  the  marriage  at  which  Mr. 
Speicher  had  officiated. 

Overseer  Voliva  was  recalled  from  Australia  and  appointed 
by  Mr.  Dowie  as  deputy  general  overseer  at  Zion  City  with 
full  power  to  act  in  all  business  and  ecclesiastical  matters. 
This  really  did  away  with  the  "Triumvirate."  Mr.  Voliva 
arrived  in  Zion  City,  February  12,  1906,  under  dcjiiiife 
promise  to  Mr.  Dowie  to  carry  out  in  full  his  instructions,  and 
to  administer  the  church  in  accord  with  his  wishes. 

Mr.  Voliva  is  an  Indiana  man  by  birth  and  rearing,  and  has 
been  preaching  since  his  seventeenth  year.  He  was  first  with 
the  Christian  Connection  and  then  with  the  Disciples.  He 
joined  the  C.  C.  C.  in  Zion  in  1899.  In  1901  he  was  sent  to 
Australia  and  it  is  said  he  won  over  a  thousand  adherents  to 
Zion  in  the  less  than  five  years  of  his  work  there. 

Mr.  Voliva  gives  his  experience  after  coming  to  Zion  City 
as  follows:  "l  at  once  formed  a  cabinet  and  council.  .  .  . 
I  went  on  prayerfully  from  da^'  to  day,  and  the  more  I  investi- 
gated the  worse  I  felt,  until  every  particle  of  manhood  in  me 
rose  up  in  indignation.  I  said  to  myself,  'l  will  adopt  a 
pacific  policy;  I  will  go  along  quietly  and  see  what  can  be 
done,'  and  at  last,  after  a  long  conference  with  those  brethren 
who  are  sitting  here  (referring  to  Speicher,  Barnes,  Granger, 
Braisefield,  etc.,  evidently)  we  arrived  at  a  conclusion  which 
we  believed  to  be  God's  will  and  at  once  got  to  work." 

Just  what  was  the  precise  order  of  developments  in  the 
determination  to  renounce  allegiance  to  Mr.  Dowie,  can  not  be 
fully  ascertained  from  published  documents,  altho  it  seems 
clear  that  Mr.  Voliva  was  planning  and  discussing  what  course 


24 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


to  take  looking  to  the  revolt,  while  it  appeared  to  the  public, 
and  Mr.  Dowie  believed  that  he  was  carrying  out  fulh'  his 
chief's  orders. 

On  February  13th,  Mr.  Voliva  had  been  given  full  powers  of 
attorney  to  act  for  Mr.  Dowie  in  his  absence.  On  the  21st  the 
document  was  confirmed  before  V.  V.  Barnes,  as  notary  pub- 
lic by  Mrs.  Dowie. 

As  late  as  March  loth  Mr.  Voliva  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Dowie  acknowledging  receipt  of  his  instructions  in  letters  and 
telegrams,  and  reassuring  him  of  his  loyality  in  carrying  out 
these  instructions. 

The  revolt  was  precipitated  April  ist  in  the  afternoon  ser- 
vice at  Shiloh  Tabernacle,  Zion  City.  Mr.  Dowie  sent  a  tele- 
gram, dated  March  31,  practically  revoking  the  power  of 
attorney  of  Mr.  Voliva,  in  which  he  also  commanded  certain 
changes  in  the  policy  of  Mr.  Voliva  and  his  advisers  which 
were  as  they  thought  for  the  best  interests  of  the  city  and 
church.  In  this  meeting  of  April  ist  Mr.  Voliva  read  the  tele- 
gram, and  immediately  in  defiance  of  the  authority  of  Mr. 
Dowie,  reinstated  the  deposed  Overseer  Speicher,  and  an- 
nounced his  determination  not  to  carry  out  the  instructions 
contained  in  the  telegram.  A  large  majority  of  those  present 
sanctioned  these  acts  of  rebellion,  and  emboldened  by  this 
demonstration  of  general  dissatisfaction  with  Mr.  Dowie's 
rule,  the  following  telegram  was  sent  to  the  deposed  leader: 
Dowie:—  "Zion  City,  ilL,  April  2,  1906. 

Telegram  read  here,  Chicago  practically  all  including  Cincinnati  repre- 
sentative endorsed  Voliva  administration,  Speicher's  reinstatement.  Gran- 
gers retention,  emphatically  protesting  against  your  extravagance,  hypo- 
cracy,  misrepresentations,  exaggerations,  misuse  of  investment,  tyranny 
and  injustice.  You  are  hereby  suspended  from  office  and  membership  for 
polygamous  teaching  and  other  grave  charges.  See  letter.  You  must 
answer  these  satisfactorily  to  officers  and  people.  Quietly  retire.  Further 
interference  will  precipitate  complete  exposure,  rebellion,  legal  proceed- 
ings. Your  statement  of  stupendously  magnificent  financial  outlook  is  ex- 
tremely foolish  in  view  of  thousands  suffering  through  your  shame- 
ful mismanagement.    Zion  and  creditors  will  be  protected  at  all  costs. 

S.  Voliva,  Piper,  Braisefield,  Excell,  Speicher,  Cantel." 


INTRODUCTION 


And  so  the  rebellion  or  revolt  was  precipitated.  As  a  safe- 
guard against  Mr.  Dowie's  removing  all  the  revolting  officers 
and  assuming  full  headship  again,  a  transfer*  of  all  Zion  prop- 
erties held  in  the  name  of  Mr.  Dowie  was  made  by  Mr.  Voliva 
acting  as  attorney.!  to  Alexander  Granger  of  Zion  City. 

*See  Bill  in  Chancery  referred  to  below,  Exhibits  J.  K.  L.  M. 

tKNOW  ALL  MEN  BY  THESE  PRESENTS,  That  we,  John  Alexander 
Dowie  and  Jane  Dowie,  his  wife,  of  the  City  of  Zion,  in  the  County  of 
Lake  and  State  of  Illinois,  have  made,  constituted  and  appointed,  and  by 
these  presents  do  make,  constitute  and  appoint  Wilbur  Glenn  Voliva,  of 
the  City  of  Zion,  in  said  County  and  State,  to  be  our  true  and  lawful  at- 
torney, with  full  power  of  substitution  and  revocation  of  such  substitution 
and  power  granted  hereunder,  for  us  or  either  of  us,  and  in  our  name, 
place  and  stead,  or  in  the  name,  place  and  stead  of  either  of  us,  to  grant, 
bargain,  mortgage,  lease,  release,  transfer  and  convey,  with  or  without 
covenants,  including  the  transfer  and  waiver  of  any  and  all  homestead  or 
exemption  laws,  and  rights  thereunder,  in  the  State  of  Illinois  and  else- 
where, and  properly  acknowledge  any  and  all  papers  or  conveyances  per- 
taining to  any  and  all  property,  whether  real,  personal  or  mixed,  that  we 
or  either  of  us  may  own,  hold  or  be  interested  in,  and  wheresoever  the 
same  may  be  situated  as  such  attorney  may  see  fit;  and  also  to  make, 
execute  and  deliver  any  such  instrument;  and  also  in  our  name,  place  and 
stead,  or  in  the  name,  place  and  stead  of  either  of  us,  to  execute  any  bail 
bonds,  appeal  bonds,  injunction  bonds,  bonds  for  costs,  or  any  other  bonds 
in  judicial  proceedings  or  otherwfSe  now  or  hereafter  instituted,  and  also 
to  make  and  enter  appearance  or  admit  service  of  process  in  any  court  of 
record  or  other  court,  in  the  name  and  for  us  or  either  us,  whenever  our  said 
attorney  may  deem  fit  and  proper  so  to  do;  and  also  our  or  either  of  our 
names  to  sign  as  surety  on  any  official  bond  of  any  person  duly  appointed 
to  any  public  or  private  oftice;  and  also  in  our  name,  place  and  stead,  or  in 
the  name,  place  and  stead  of  either  of  us  to  execute,  sign  and  endorse  all 
leases,  bonds,  contracts,  notes,  certificates  of  deposit,  certificates  of  stock, 
bills  of  exchange,  checks  or  other  instruments  in  writing  which  in  his  said 
judgment  may  be  necessary  or  proper  to  be  so  signed,  executed  or  endorsed 
in  our  or  either  of  our  names;  and  also  in  our  or  either  of  our  names  to 
receipt  for  and  receive  any  letter,  package  or  parcel  from  the  post  office,  and 
appoint  and  authorize  any  person  to  so  receive  and  receipt  for  same, 
hereby  ratifying  and  confirming  all  that  our  said  attorney  or  his  substitute 
shall  lawfully  do  or  cause  to  be  done,  either  by  our  act,  or  the  act  of  either 
of  us  through  him,  his  own  act,  or  the  act  of  such  substitute  by  virtue 
hereof. 


26 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


Upon  the  receipt  of  the  telegram  announcing  the  revolt  Mr. 
Dowie  immediately  started  on  his  return  journey  to  Chicago, 
threatening  the  conspirators  with  dreadful  punishment.  He 
arrived  in  Chicago,  April  loth,  broken  in  health,  and  decided  to 
wait  further  developments  before  entering  Zion  City. 

During  the  month  of  April  the  counsel  which  Mr.  Dowie  en- 
gaged presented  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  Lake  County,  Illinois, 
his  Bill  in  Chancery  fully  setting  forth  the  case  of  Mr.  Dowie 
vs.  Wilbur  Glenn  Voliva,  et  al. 

This  Mr.  Dowie  caused  to  be  printed  and  circulated  in  Zion 
City  just  prior  to  April  22nd,  the  date  of  his  intended  entr5^ 
However  the  injunction  of  the  court  which  he  had  procured 
did  not  give  him  the  right  to  use  the  Tabernacle  at  Zion  City 
until  April  29th,  and  he  deferred  his  entry  into  the  citj'  until 
the  28th.  He  addressed  a  number  of  his  followers  in  Shiloh 
Tabernacle  Sunday  afternoon,  April  29th,  but  had  indifferent 
success  in  stemming  the  tide  of  revolt. 

In  Witness  Whereof  we  have  hereunto  set  our  hands  and  seals  the  13th 
Day  of  February,  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  One  Thousand  Nine  Hundred 
and  Six. 

JOHN  ALEX.  DOWIE,  J.  A.  D.  (SeaL) 
JANE  DaWIE.  (SeaL) 
Signed,  Sealed  and  Delivered  in  presence  of 

0.  W.  REECE,  Witness  for  John  Alex.  Dowie. 
A.  J.  GLADSTONE  DOWIE,  For  Jane  Dowie. 

STATE  OF  ILLINOIS,  County  of  Lake,  ss. 

1,  V.  V.  Barnes,  a  Notary  Public  in  and  for  said  County  and  State,  do 
hereby  certify  that  Jane  Dowie,  personally  known  to  me  to  be  the  same 
person  whose  name  is  subscribed  to  the  foregoing  instrument,  appeared  be- 
fore me  on  this  day  in  person  and  acknowledged  that  she  signed,  sealed 
and  delivered  the  said  instrument  as  her  free  and  voluntary  act  for  the 
uses  and  purposes  therein  set  forth,  including  the  release  and  waiver  of 
the  right  of  homestead. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  Notarial  Seal  this  21st  day  of  Februajy, 
A.  D.  1906. 

V.  V.  BARNES, 

Notary  Public. 

V.  V.  Barnes,  Notary  Publk,  Lake  County,  HI. 


INTRODUCTION 


27 


The  new  regime  under  Mr.  Voliva  has  done  everything 
possible  to  break  down  the  hold  of  the  former  head  of  Zion  by 
affirming  and  reaffirming  the  mismanagement  and  waste  of 
which  he  was  guilty.  They  have  gone  so  far  as  to  charge 
poh'gamous  and  immoral  teachings  and  intentions  to  the  man 
whom  a  few  months  before  they  reverenced  as  the  First 
Apostle.  Numerous  reforms  have  already  been  wrought. 
The  name  of  Mr.  Dowie  has  been  scratched  from  the  Zion 
literature  and  painted  out  on  the  buildings  and  properties  of 
Zion.  The  gorgeous  robes  and  appurtenances  of  worship  with 
which  Mr.  Dowie  pleased  the  fancy  of  an  erstwhile  submissive 
following  have  been  abandoned.  The  word  "apostle"  is  under 
the  ban  for  the  time,  and  "apostolic"  has  been  dropped  from 
the  title  of  the  organization. 

Mr.  Voliva  sa\-s  the\-  are  going  to  get  back  to  the  simple 
and  biblical  organization  of  the  church  as  first  organized.  All 
nonsense  will  be  dropped.  One  man  rule  will  no  longer  be 
possible.  A  cabinet  will  henceforth  administer  the  ecclesias- 
tical affairs  of  Zion.  Meanwhile  litigation  has  been  begun  by 
Mr.  Dowie  to  recover  the  leadership  and  properties  of  Zion. 

There  have  been  a  large  number  of  desertions  and  with- 
drawals since  the  beginning  of  the  revolt,  and  yet  the  main 
bodj'  of  the  people  seem  to  be  loyal  to  what  they  call  "Zion 
Teachings"  and  are  giving  their  support  to  the  new  regime. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE   FOUNDER  OF  ZION. 

John  Alexander  Dowie  was  born  May  25,  1847,  at  Leith 
Street  Terrace,  Edinburgh,  Scotland.  He  was  graduated  at 
the  Arthur  Street  Academy  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  took  a 
silver  medal  for  excellence  in  scholarship.  An  incident  is  re- 
ported to  have  occurred  when  he  was  six  3'ears  of  age  which 
seemed  to  indicate  both  his  precociousness  and  his  early  fond- 
ness for  religious  ideas.  He  asked  his  mother  why  he  was 
called  John  and  Alexander  and  was  told  that  these  were  ances- 
tral names.  But  the  lad  was  not  satisfied,  his  curiosity  still 
persisting  to  know  the  meaning  of  the  names.  He  was  sent 
to  the  Bible  Dictionary,  where  he  learned  that  his  names  had 
the  meaning  "Grace  of  God"  and  "Helper  of  men."  His 
child  mind  was  quickened  by  the  thought  that  these  names 
indicated  his  mission  in  life,  and  he  says  he  has  lived  in  that 
faith  since  that  very  hour.  * 

In  i860  his  parents  moved  to  Adelaide,  South  Australia,  and 
he  was  put  to  work  with  his  uncle,  an  importer,  doing  such 
general  work  as  a  boy  would  ordinarily  do.  Shortly  after  he 
went  to  work  for  his  uncle  young  Dowie  made  a  display  of 
what  has  since  seemed  to  be  one  of  his  elemental  characteris- 
tics, self-assertiveness,  and  incidentallj'  high  temper.  His 
uncle  sent  him  for  some  envelopes  and  he  returned  with  what 
he  thought  was  wanted,  but  the  uncle  seemed  displeased, 
thinking  that  a  different  sort  had  been  mentioned.  Yoimg 
Dowie  simply  said  that  no  directions  had  been  given,  but  that 
he  would  go  again  and  secure  what  was  wanted,  whereupon 
his  uncle  became  angered  at  what  seemed  insubordination. 

*L.  of  H.,  Vol.  16,  No.  20,  p.  634.  interview  of  Mr.  Dowie,  Havana, 
Cuba. 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  ZION 


29 


His  rebuke  of  the  boy  was  the  occasion  of  the  display,  for  the 
boy  picked  up  a  bootjack  and  brandished  it  threateningly, 
making  his  uncle  so  fearful  of  bodily  harm  as  to  leave  the 
office.  He  spoke  afterward  of  the  fiendish  temper  of  the  lad, 
saying  that  if  he  continued  along  that  line  he  would  come  to 
the  gallows.  His  business  ability  developed  early  and  he  soon 
secured  a  place  as  clerk  in  the  counting  house  of  a  wholesale 
dry  goods  firm.  When  he  returned  to  Scotland  in  1868  he 
had  a  thorough  business  training,  altho  just  coming  of  age, 
having  worked  up  to  the  position  of  accountant  and  then  to 
junior  partner  of  the  firm. 

For  two  years  he  studied  in  Edinburgh  in  university  and 
theological  schools  with  such  teachers  as  Blackie  and  Calder- 
wood,  taking  up  the  classics,  and  the  political  sciences.*  He 
returned  to  Australia  in  1870  and  was  ordained  to  the  ministry 
as  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Alma,  near 
Adelaide. 

The  next  year  he  was  called  to  Sydney  to  be  pastor  of  the 
Manly  Church  and  subsequently  to  a  larger  church  at  New- 
ton, a  suburb  of  Sydney.  Here  he  mingled  in  politics,  be- 
coming leader  of  the  social  reform  party.  He  helped  bring 
about  an  undenominational  compulsory  and  free  system  of 
education  for  New  South  Wales.  It  was  during  this  period 
of  his  life  that  Mr.  Dowie  was  especially  active  in  temperance 
work.  He  was  offered  a  position  in  the  cabinet  of  Sir  Henry 
Parks,  and  he  proudly  refers  to  this  later  in  life  as  having 
been  his  opportunity  of  entering  upon  the  career  of  a  great 
statesman  had  he  so  chosen. 

*  Memorandum  received  trom  the  University  of  Edinburgh: 
"John  Alexander  Dowie  was  enrolled  as  a  student  in  the  Faculty  of  Arts 
in  this  University  in  Sessions  1869-70  and  1870-71.  He  entered  his  name 
etc.,  in  the  Marticulation  Album  thus:  1869-70.  John  Alexander  Dowie, 
Edinburgh.  22;  Arts,  first  year.  1870-71.  John  Alexander  Dowie,  Adel- 
aide, South  Australia,  23;  Arts,  second  year.  In  the  former  Session  he 
attended  Junior  Latin  and  Junior  Greek;  in  the  latter  Session  he  attended 
Logic  and  Moral  Philosophy." 


30 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


In  1878  he  conceived  the  notion  that  it  was  wrong  for  a 
minister  to  take  a  salary  and  went  into  evangelistic  work,  de- 
pending upon  voluntary'  offerings. 

In  1882  he  went  to  Melbourne  and  established  a  large  inde- 
pendent church,  building  a  Tabernacle.  About  this  time 
there  was  a  change  in  the  character  of  his  ministry,  and  he 
became  a  firm  believer  in  Divine  Healing  in  direct  answer  to 
prayer.    He  himself  gives  the  account  as  follows,  in  his  tract: 

THE  GOSPEL  OF  DJVINE  HEALING  AND  HOW  I  CAME  TO  PREACH  IT. 

Jesus  the  Christ  is  the  same  today  as  when  He  trod  the  Holy  Land, 
blessing  the  fainting,  scattered,  burdened  sheep  of  God  with  words  of  life. 
And  still  He  journeys  over  all  the  earth  and  never  wearies  of  His  loving 
task.  He  binds  up  still  the  broken,  bleeding  hearts.  He  still  delivers 
from  the  tyrant's  fetters,  and  from  himself,  the  Fountain,  healing  virtue 
still  is  flowing.  With  outstretched  hands  He  stands,  quick  to  respond  to 
thine  appeal  and  banish  all  thy  woe.  Unseen,  but  "with  us  always,"  as 
He  said,  He  stands  beside  thy  bed  of  weary  pain.  Loved  ones  bend  over 
thee,  and  minister  with  sympathetic  care;  but  nearer  than  all  beside  is 
Jesus,  thy  Savior  and  thy  Healer  still.  The  Hand  that  cleansed  the  foul- 
ness of  the  leper's  flesh  and  made  it  sweet  and  clean;  the  Hand  that  made 
the  deaf  to  hear;  the  blind  to  see,  the  lame  to  leap,  the  dumb  to  speak; 
the  Hand  which  raised  the  dead  to  life  is  here;  no  vanished  Christ  have 
we.  Oh,  wherefore  doubt,  and  wherefore  seek  at  other  hands,  from  surgeon's 
knife  or  poison  draught;  the  healing  which  He  died  to  bring  to  thee,  to  me, 
to  all  mankind,  in  every  age,  in  every  land,  in  everclime.^  Christ  changes 
never. 

At  noontide,  eighteen  years  ago,  I  sat  in  my  study  in  the  parsonage  of 
the  Congregational  Church  at  Newton,  a  suburb  of  the  beautiful  city  of 
Sydney,  Australia.  My  heart  was  very  heavy,  for  1  had  been  visitingthe 
sick  and  dying  beds  of  more  than  thirty  of  my  flock,  and  1  had  cast  the 
dust  to  its  kindred  dust  into  more  than  forty  graves  within  a  few  weeks. 
Where,  oh  where  was  He  who  used  to  heal  His  suffering  children?  No 
prayer  for  healing  seemed  to  reach  His  ear,  and  yet  I  knew  His  hand  had 
not  been  shortened.  Still  it  did  not  save  from  death  even  those  for  whom 
there  was  so  much  in  life  to  live  for  God  and  others.  Strong  men,  fathers, 
good  citizens,  and  more  than  all,  true,  faithful  Christians  sickened  with  a 
putrid  fever,  suffered  nameless  agonies,  passed  into  delirium,  sometimes 
with  convulsions,  and  then  died. 

And  oh,  what  aching  voids  were  left  in  many  a  widowed  orphaned 
heart.    Then  there  were  many  homes  where,  one  by  one,  the  little 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  ZION 


31 


children,  the  youths  and  the  maidens  were  stricken,  and,  after  hard 
struggling  with  the  foul  disease,  they,  too,  lay  cold  and  dead.  It  seemed 
sometimes  as  if  I  could  almost  hear  the  triumphant  mockery  of  fiends 
ringing  in  my  ear  whilst  I  spoke  to  the  bereaved  ones  the  words  of  Chris, 
tian  hope  and  consolation.  Disease,  the  foul  offspring  of  its  father,  Satan, 
and  its  mother,  Sin,  was  defiling  and  destroying  the  earthly  temples  of 
God's  children,  and  there  was  no  deliverer. 

And  there  I  sat  with  sorrow-bowed  head  for  my  afflicted  people,  until 
the  bitter  tears  came  to  relieve  my  burning  heart.  Then  I  prayed  for 
some  message,  and  oh,  how  !  longed  to  hear  some  words  from  Him  who 
wept  and  sorrowed  for  the  suffering  long  ago,  the  Man  of  Sorrows  and  of 
Sympathies.  And  then  the  words  of  the  Holy  Spirit  inspired  in  Acts  10:38 
stood  before  me  all  radiant  with  light,  revealing  Satan  as  the  defiler  and 
the  Christ  as  the  Healer.  My  tears  were  wiped  away,  my  heart  was 
strong,  I  saw  the  way  of  healing,  and  the  door  thereto  was  opened  wide, 
and  so  1  said,  '"God  help  me  now  to  preach  the  word  to  all  the  dying 
round,  and  tell  them  how  'tis  Satan  still  defiles,  and  Jesus  still  delivers, 
tor  'He  is  just  the  same  to-day.'  " 

A  loud  ring  and  several  loud  raps  at  the  outer  door,  a  rush  of  feet,  and 
then  at  my  door  two  panting  messengers  who  said,  "Oh,  come  at  once 
Mar\'  is  dying:  come  and  pray."  With  just  such  a  feeling  as  a  shepherd 
has  who  hears  that  his  sheep  are  being  torn  from  the  fold  by  a  cruel  wolf, 
I  rushed  from  my  house,  ran  hatless  down  the  street,  and  entered  the 
room  of  a  dying  maiden.  There  she  lay  groaning,  grinding  her  clenched 
teeth  in  the  agony  of  the  conflict  with  the  destroyer,  the  white  froth, 
mingled  with  her  blood,  oozing  from  her  pain  distorted  mouth.  1  looked- 
at  her  and  then  my  anger  burned.  "Oh,"  1  thought,  "for  some  sharp 
sword  of  heavenly  temper  keen  to  slay  this  cruel  foe  who  is  strangling 
that  lovely  maiden  like  an  invisible  serpent,  tightening  his  deadly  coils 
for  a  final  victory." 

In  a  strange  way  it  came  to  pass;  I  found  the  sword  I  needed  was  in 
my  hands,  and  in  my  hand  1  hold  it  still,  and  never  will  I  lay  it  down. 
The  doctor,  a  good  Christian  man,  was  quietly  walking  up  and  down  the 
room,  sharing  the  mother's  pain  and  grief.  Presently  he  stood  at  my  side 
and  said,  "Sir,  are  not  God's  ways  mysterious?"  Instantly  the  sword  was 
flashing  in  my  hand,— the  Spirit's  Sword,  the  Word  of  God,  "God's 

way  !"  1  said,  pointing  to  the  scene  of  conflict,  "How  dare,  you.  Dr.  K  , 

call  that  God's  way  of  bringing  his  children  home  from  earth  to  heaven? 
No,  sir,  that  is  the  Devil's  work,  and  it  is  time  we  call  on  Him  who  came 
to  'destroy  the  work  of  the  Devil,'  to  slav  that  deadly  foul  destroyer, 
and  to  save  the  child.  Can  you  pray.  Doctor,  can  you  pray  the  prayer  of 
faith  that  saves  the  sick?" 

At  once,  offended  at  my  words,  my  friend  was  changed,  and  saying. 


32 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


"You  are  too  much  excited,  sir,  'tis  best  to  say  God's  Will  be  done,"  he 
left  the  room. 

Excited !  The  word  was  quite  inadequate,  for  1  was  almost  frenzied 
with  Divinely  imparted  anger  and  hatred  of  that  foul  destroyer,  disease, 
which  was  doingSatan's  will.  "It  is  not  so,"  I  exclaimed,  "no  will  of  God 
sends  such  cruelty,  and  I  shall  never  say  God's  Will  be  done  to  Satan's 
works,  which  God's  own  son  came  to  destroy,  and  this  is  one  of  them." 

Oh,  how  the  Word  of  God  was  burning  in  my  heart:  "Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth went  about  doing  good  and  healing  ALL  THAT  WERE  OPPRESSED 
OF  THE  DEVIL:  for  God  was  with  Him."  And  was  not  God  with  me? 
and  was  not  Jesus  there,  and  all  His  promise  true?  i  felt  that  it  was 
even  so,  and  turning  to  the  mother  I  inquired:  "Why  do  you  send  for 
me?"  to  which  she  answered:  "Do  pray,  oh  pray  for  her,  that  God  may 
raise  her  up." 

Ana  so  we  prayed.  What  did  I  say?  It  may  be  that!  cannot  now  recall  the 
words  without  mistake,  but  words  are  in  themselves  of  small  importance. 
The  prayer  of  faith  may  be  a  voiceless  prayer,  a  simple  heartfelt  look  of 
confidence  into  the  face  of  the  Christ.  At  such  a  moment  words  are  tew, 
but  they  mean  much,  for  God  is  looking  at  the  heart.  Still  1  can  remem- 
ber much  of  that  prayer  unto  this  day.    .    .  . 

And,  lo,  the  maid  lay  still  in  sleep,  so  deep  and  sweet  that  the  mother 
said  in  a  low  whisper,  "Is  she  dead!"  "No,"  1  answered,  in  a  whisper 
lower  still,  "Mary  will  live,  the  fever  has  gone.  She  is  perfectly  well  and 
sleeping  as  an  infant  sleeps."  Smoothing  the  long  dark  hair  from  her 
now  peaceful  brow,  and  feeling  the  steady  pulsation  of  her  heart,  and 
"cool  moist  hands,  I  saw  that  the  Christ  had  heard  and  that  once  more,  as 
long  ago  in  Peter's  house,  "He  touched  her  and  the  fever  left  her."  Turn- 
ing to  the  nurse  1  said,  "Get  me  at  once,  please,  a  cup  of  cocoa  and 
several  slices  of  bread  and  butter." 

Besides  the  sleeping  maid  we  sat  quietly  and  almost  silently  until  the 
nurse  returned,  and  then  I  bent  over  her  and  snapping  my  fingers  said, 
"Mary  !"  Instantly  she  awoke,  smiled  and  said,  "Oh,  sir,  when  did  you 
come?  I  have  slept  so  long;"  then  stretching  out  her  arms  to  meet  her 
mother's  embrace,  she  said,  "Mother,  1  feel  so  well."  "And  hungry, 
too?"  1  said,  pouring  out  some  of  the  cocoa  in  a  saucer,  and  offering  it 
to  her  when  cooled  by  my  breath.  "Yes,  hungry,  too,"  she  answered 
with  a  little  laugh,  and  drank  and  ate  again,  and  yet  again,  until  all  was 
gone.  In  a  few  minutes  she  fell  asleep,  breathing  easily  and  softly. 
Quietly  thanking  God,  we  left  her  bed  and  went  out  into  the  next  room 
where  her  brother  and  sister  also  lay  sick  of  the  same  fever.  With  these  two 
we  also  prayed,  and  they  were  healed.  The  following  day  all  three  were 
well,  and  in  a  week  or  so  they  brought  to  me  a  little  letter  and  a  little  gift 
of  gold,  two  sleeve  links  with  my  monogram,  which  I  wore  for  many 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  ZION 


33 


years.  As  I  went  away  from  the  home  where  the  Christ  as  the  Healer  had 
been  victorious.  1  could  not  but  have  somewhat  in  my  heart  of  the 
triumphant  song  that  rang  through  heaven,  and  yet  1  was  not  a  little  amazed 
at  my  own  strange  doings,  and  still  more  at  my  discovery  that  "He  is 
just  the  same  today." 

And  this  is  the  story  of  how  I  came  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Healing 
through  Faith  in  Jesus.  .  .  . 

It  is  the  Old  Time  Religion  and  no  new  Gospel  that  is  preached.  'Tis 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus'  Redemption  for  spirit,  soul  and  body,  bringing  Salva- 
tion from  sin,  Healing  from  sickness,  and  Cleansing  from  every  defile- 
ment of  the  flesh  and  spirit. 

Let  the  word  abide  in  thy  heart,  "He  is  just  the  same  today." 

And  if  thou  wilt  believe  Him,  first  for  Salvation  and  then  for  Healing, 
thou  wilt  go  onward  in  the  King's  Highway  of  Holiness  singing  the 
familfar  words  with  a  new  meaning,  as  thou  goest  along  the  way 
through  earth  to  Heaven. 

"Thou,  O  Christ,  art  all  I  want. 

More  than  all  in  Thee  1  find. 
Raise  the  fallen,  cheer  the  faint. 

Heal  the  sick,  and  lead  the  blind." 

In  this  tract  we  have  the  story  of  the  besfinning  of  what  de- 
veloped into  the  real  apologetic  of  his  later  work,  the  Christian 
Catholic  Church  in  Zion,  that  is,  divine  healing.  It  was  from 
the  experiences  of  these  early  years  that  he  evolved  slowly  his 
"ministry  of  healing."  In  ten  years  he  laid  hands  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  on  i8,ooo  sick  and  he  declares  that  the 
greater  part  of  them  were  fully  healed. 

In  Melbourne  he  carried  on  a  crusade  against  drink  and 
tobacco,  prolific  causes  of  diseases  and  sin.  He  defied  the 
laws  prohibiting  his  street  and  saloon  work  and  went  to  jail 
until  released  unconditionally  by  Governor  Loch.  He  spent 
a  short  time  in  New  Zealand  and  came  to  San  Francisco  June 
7,  i888.  It  was  not  his  original  intention  to  stay  there  more 
than  a  year,  for  he  desired  to  tour  the  United  States,  pass  on 
to  Europe,  and  reach  Australia  in  1891.  Circumstances 
changed  his  plans.  He  found  the  American  people  in  many 
places  eager  for  some  new  thing,  or  rather,  as  we  shall  see, 


34 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


eager  to  hear  more  of  things  about  which  they  already 
had  more  or  less  definite  notions.  Two  years  were  spent 
upon  the  Pacific  coast,  going  up  and  down  establishing 
branches  of  the  Divine  Healing  Association,  of  which  he  was 
president.  At  this  time  many  of  the  churches  were  not  hostile 
to  him,  and  he  addressed  his  audiences  in  the  church  build- 
ings. He  came  into  open  conflict  however  with  the  pastors 
of  Oakland,  California,  and  in  this  controversy  delivered  and 
subsequently  published  his  scurrilous  tract  "Divine  Healing 
Vindicated."  W  lu  n  he  came  to  Omaha,  Nebraska,  in  1890, 
he  held  a  service  of  one  month  in  the  First  Baptist  Church,  as 
its  pastor.  Dr.  Lamar,  was  a  believer  in  Divine  Healing,  or 
rather  Faith  Healing  ot  the  A.  B.  Simpson  sort.  He  arrived 
in  Chicago  in  July,  i8uo,  making  his  headquarters  at  Evans- 
ton  until  June,  1803.  In  these  three  vears  he  held  services  in 
churches,  tents  and  halls,  in  manj^  parts  of  this  country  and 
Canada,  meeting  with  indifferent  success,  but  nearly  always 
managing  to  get  a  hearing.  In  May,  1893,  at  the  opening  of 
the  World's  Fair,  he  established  a  Zion's  Tabernacle  at  251 
E.  62nd  St.,  Chicago,  opposite  Jackson  Park.  In  April, 
1894,  he  moved  his  service  down  town  to  the  Central  Music 
Hall,  and  moved  his  home  to  more  commodious  quarters  on 
Edgerton  Avenue.  This  was  known  from  that  time  as  the 
Divine  Healing  Home  No.  i,  other  such  healing  homes  being 
established  later.  In  October,  1895,  the  Auditorium  was 
secured  as  the  place  of  the  down  town  meetings.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1895,  a  distinct  forward  step  was  taken.  He  broke  away 
from  the  International  Divine  Healing  Association,  which  he 
had  been  instrumental  in  organizing,  and  'announced  that  he 
would  no  longer  allow  his  fellow-believers  to  remain  in  the 
churches,  which  had  now  come  to  be  indifferent  or  hostile  to 
his  work.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  work  independent  of 
the  churches. 

At  this  time  a  struggle  with  the  Chicago  authorities  began. 
Incited  by  the  doctors  and  ministers  nearly  one  hundred  war- 
rants were  issued  for  him  during  1895,  and  he  claims  to  have 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  ZIOX 


35 


spent  parts  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  days  in  court  during 
the  j-ear.* 

On  January  22,  1896,  he  called  a  meeting  of  all  believers 
interested  in  the  organization  of  the  Christian  Catholic 
Church  in  Zion.t  He  said  before  this  gathering,  which  met 
in  Zion  Tabernacle  No.  2,  that  he  didn't  want  to  be  a  schis- 
matic, but  wanted  to  help  people  to  understand  the  primitive 
Gospel.  Quoting  from  Psalm  67:4,  "For  thou  shalt  judge  the 
people  righteously,  and  govern  the  people  upon  the  earth," 
he  found  authority  for  the  founding  of  a  theocracy.  "Not  a 
democracy,  the  will  of  the  people,  but  a  theocracy,  the  will  of 
God"  were  his  words  of  comment,  and  finishing  the  reading, 
he  said,  "Now  that  is  the  Word.  .  .  .  It  is  nearly  twenty 
5'ears  since  I  stepped  out  of  organized  ecclesiastical  work. 
...  I  never  had  am*  ambition  to  be  the  originator,  the  head 
or  heart  of  a  pett^-  organization,  that  should  be  just  one  more 
of  the  innumerable  divisions  of  Christendom.  But  I  have  felt 
with  a  great,  broad,  catholic  sympathy  which  God  gave  me 
from  the  beginning,  and  which  God  has  broadened,  and 
widened  and  deepened  throughout  all  thevears,  that  I  wanted, 
if  ever  I  should  return  to  organized  church  life,  to  get  back 
to  its  primitive  conditions,  where  the  church  should  be 
Catholic,  universal,  all-embracing,  in  embracing  all  who  were 
in  communion  with  God  by  repentance  and  faith  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  He  then  claimed  to  have  put  himself  in  the 
absolute  keeping  of  his  Heavenly  Father,  trusting  with 
absolute  confidence  to  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
address  he  was  about  to  make,  and  which  realh-  was  intended 
to  guide  the  conference  toward  organization.  His  wife,  who  was 
announced  as  his  colleague,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Speicher,  were  then 
called  on  to  pra}',  and  these  two  have  been  closely  associated 
since  that  time  with  all  his  plans  in  organizing  and  administer- 
ing the  Christian  Catholic  Church  in  Zion.    The  address 

*The  report  of  that  year  of  fighting  was  full  of  hitternsss  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Dowie  and  the  forces  aligned  against  him. 
t  Report  of  First  General  Conference.  Pamphlet. 


36 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


which  follows  bears  marks  of  as  careful  if  not  more  careful 
preparation  than  an\^  other  of  the  preserved  addresses  of  Mr. 
Dowie. 

By  a  clever  use  of  Scripture  he  shows  where  authoritj' 
rested  in  the  early  church  and  what  the  splendid  organiz- 
ing ability  of  the  Apostle  Paul  did  in  the  New  Testament 
times.  He  then  likens  himself  to  that  Apostle  and  goes  on 
to  show  what  he  considers  the  permanent  form  of  organiza- 
tion for  the  Church  of  Christ.  Speaking  of  the  Apostle  Paul 
he  says:  "He  possessed  that  splendid  gift  of  organizing  the 
church  into  a  thoroughly  compact  form,  so  that  it  could  do  a 
thousandfold  more  good  than  it  could  as  a  disorganized  mass, 
and  1  pray  God  tonight  that  some  of  that  great  grace  which 
rested  so  mightly  upon  him  will  rest  upon  me.  I  want  it,  I 
need  it,  and  unless  God  gives  it  to  me,  I  can't  be  of  any  use. 
.  .  .  No  one  can  rejoice  more  than  I  can  in  the  fact  that  God 
has  given  to  me  this  great  gift  of  an  unwearied  brain  and 
diligence,  and  almost  unwearied  power  to  do  work,  and  I 
think  it  is  just  the  time  where  1  ought  to  do  something  of  the 
hight'st  order."  "The  Christian  Catholic  Church  in  Zion 
should  lio  lormed"  he  said  "of  all  persons  who  are  willing  to 
coiuf  togi^  tlur  upon  this  basis:  That  (i)  they  recognize  the 
infallible  ins])iration  and  sufficiency  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  as 
the  rule  of  faith  and  practice;  that  (2}  they  recognize  that  no 
persons  can  be  members  of  the  church  who  have  not  repented 
of  their  sins  and  have  not  trusted  in  Christ  for  salvation;  that 
(3)  such  persons  must  also  be  able  to  make  a  good  profession 
and  declare  that  they  do  know  in  their  own  hearts  that  they 
have  truly  repented,  and  are  truly  trusting  Christ,  and  have 
the  witness,  in  a  measure,  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  (4)  all 
other  matters  are  matters  of  opinion." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  declaration  of  the  constitution 
of  this  new  church.  "In  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  in  accordance  with  the  will  of 
God,  our  heavenly  Father,  I  believe,  and  believing  that  I  am 
thereunto  called  as  the  General  Overseer  of  this  flock,  not 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  ZION 


37 


only  in  this  place  but  in  all  the  cities  and  villages  and  states 
and  countries  where  persons  have  applied  or  shall  apply  for 
fellowship,  do  now  constitute  this  Church  as  a  gathering  of 
believers  under  the  title  of  the  Christian  Catholic  Church.  I 
pray  that  all  ye  who  are  now  gathered  and  all  who  shall  yet 
gather  into  this  Church  shall  fulfill  the  great  design  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour,  that  we  may  be  One  as  He  with  the  Father  is  One, 
and  with  the  Eternal  Spirit,  that  we  may  be  One  in  Him. 
May  this  Church  be  divinely  endowed  with  the  nine  gifts  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  with  the  word  of  Wisdom,  the  word  of 
Knowledge,  Faith,  Gifts  of  Healings,  Workings  of  Miracles, 
Prophecy,  Discernings  of  Spirits,  Divers  kinds  of  Tongues 
and  Interpretation  of  Tongues,  and  with  that  gift  of  Love 
which  is  the  crown  of  all,  that  precious  gift  which  enables  the 
Church  to  fulfill  all.  Oh  with  that  love  let  these  gifts  be 
exercised  and  this  Church  go  on  to  the  glory  of  God,  the 
Father,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

The  conference  of  January  22nd,  and  February  8th,  1896, 
led  up  to  the  one  held  February  22nd,  at  which  time  the 
Christian  Catholic  Church  was  formed,  with  John  Alexander 
Dowie  as  General  Overseer.  He  predicted  that  in  ten  ^-ears, 
if  God  would  spare  his  life  and  he  continued  to  be  General 
Overseer,  the  Christian  Catholic  Church  would  be  the  strongest 
and  wealthiest  church  that  the  world  has  ever  seen;  he  declared 
that  he  intended  to  build  a  little  city  to  be  called  Zion,  and  that 
some  da^-  he  hoped  to  stand  upon  the  dome  of  a  Zion  Temple 
to  hold  from  ten  thousand  to  twenty  thousand  persons,  that 
multitudes  would  come  from  all  nations  to  be  saved,  healed 
and  cleansed. 

During  1899  he  came  to  feel  that  he  was  doing  the  work 
that  was  prophesied  for  the  Messenger  of  the  Covenant  in 
Malachi.  After  expounding  these  prophecies  he  claims  to  be 
the  Messenger.  (See  L.  of  H.  covering  the  close  of  the  year 
1899  and  beginning  of  1900.). 

"I  have  the  right  to  stand  here  and  sa\-  in  Zion  \-ou  have  to 


38 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


do  what  I  tell  you!  Oh!  The  whole  church?  Yes!  the 
whole  church — Presbyterian,  Congregational,  Baptist,  Epis- 
copal. It  is  the  most  daring  thing  I  ever  said.  The 
time  has  come;  I  tell  the  church  universal  everywhere,  you 
have  to  do  what  I  tell  you,  Do  you  hear?  You  have  to  do 
what  I  tell  you,  because  I  am  the  Messenger  of  God's  cov- 
enant." 

On  June  2nd,  1901,  he  took  the  third  step  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Christian  Catholic  Church  in  Zion,  when,  before 
an  audience  of  "7,000"  *  in  the  Auditorium  he  announced  him- 
self the  Restorer  of  all  things.  He  said:  "You  have  to  do  what 
I  tell  you,  because  what  I  tell  you  is  in  accordance  with  that 
word,  and  because  I  am  the  Messenger  of  the  Covenant,  Elijah 
the  Restorer.  The  greater  portion  of  his  people  accepted 
this  dictum  and  he  is  regarded  t)y  them  as  the  Prophet  Elijah, 
come  in  the  office  of  Restorer."  At  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles 
in  Zion  City,  Illinois,  in  July,  1903,  he  took  another  step:  "I 
believe  that  some  of  these  times  there  will  come  such  a  holy; 
sacred  and  pure  unction  from  on  high  that  we  will  get  to  the 
place  where  I  shall  be  able  by  the  Holy  Spirit's  guidance,  act- 
ing in  my  prophetic  authority,  to  call  out  the  Apostolic  Col- 
lege, and  re-establish  the  fundamental  and  perpetual  order. 
September  18,  1904,  he  consecrated  himself  First  Apostle  and 
it  has  been  his  intention  to  consecrate  the  others  in  June  or 
July,  1906.  t 

This  is  the  fullest  claim  for  divine  authority  that  has  been 
made  in  modern  times  and  would  only  be  eclipsed  if  Mr.  Dowie 

*  7,000  is  Mr.  Dowie's  statement.  The  actual  seating  capacity  is  some- 
thing over  4,000. 

t  In  the  address  made  January  22,  1906  (Report  First  Zion  Conference) 
Mr.  Dowie  consumed  considerable  time  (pp.  20-25)  in  endeavoring  to  show 
that  the  apostolic  o!fice  was  intended  to  be  perpetual  in  the  church.  He 
says:  "In  the  early  church  as  fast  as  an  apostle  died  another  one  was 
selected  and  put  in  his  place,  and  man  after  man  stepped  in  to  fill  up  the 
apostolic  ranks,  and  therefore  the  apostolic  office  was  intended  to  be  per- 
petual in  the  church."  Mr.  Dowie  appointed  himself  First  Apostle  in  the 
Christian  Catholic  Apostolic  Church  in  Zion. 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  ZION 


39 


should  distinctly  declare  that  he  is  a  re-incarnation  of  the 
Messiah,  the  Son  of  God,  which  many  who  have  watched  the 
psychology  of  his  development  think  would  have  been  the  next 
logical  step,  had  not  the  condition  of  his  health  and  the  con- 
sequent loss  of  prestige  together  with  the  financial  and  moral 
failures  leading  to  the  revolt  under  Deputy  Overseer  Voliva 
made  it  impossible  for  him  to  assume  and  enact  that  roll. 


CHAPTER  II. 


CHARACTERIZATION. 

Perhaps  the  hardest  task  of  the  student  of  relig-ious  phenom- 
ena is  to  fathom  the  depths  of  personality'  in  which  religious 
ideas  originate  or  take  root.  When  we  have  gathered  all  the 
possible  facts  of  heredity  and  environment  there  still  remains 
this  greatest  thing  of  all,  personality-,  to  account  for,  or 
rather,  to  describe  and  value  as  best  we  may.  The  large 
majority  of  Mr.  Dowie's  contemporaries  are  quick  in  their 
judgment  of  him.  ]ironouncing  him  "a  charlatan,"  "a  faker," 
"a  fanatic,"  ''a  humbug,"  "an  actor,"  "a  blackguard,"  '  an 
impostor."  l>ut  this  will  not  answer,  at  least  until  we  have 
shown  good  reason  for  coming  to  such  conclusions,  since,  dur- 
ing all  ages  of  the  Christian  Church  men  have  risen  as  leaders 
of  sects  who  have  since  been  similarly  villified  or  estimated  by 
their  contemporaries,  and  who,  as  we  judge  them  now  im- 
partially, are  seen  to  hn  characters  from  whom  mixed  in- 
Hurnces  have  come;  who  have  done  good  as  well  as  harm. 

It  will  hardly  do  to  call  John  Brown  a  prophet  of  righteous- 
ness, and  yet  there  was  some  method  in  his  madness  which 
compels  us  to  regard  him  as  more  than  a  fanatic. 

However,  in  estimating  a  man  of  the  past  we  secure  as  best 
we  can  the  clearly  expressed  opinions  of  his  contemporaries, 
both  enemies  and  friends,  and  eliminating  the  co-efficient  of 
prejudice  when  we  can  ascertain  its  extent,  we  arrive  at  a 
balanced  valuation.  We  must  then  note  the  streams  of  in- 
fluence; the  institutions  and  ideas  which  he  originated  or  de- 
flected, or  checked.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  press 
as  a  voice  of  public  opinion  would  make  short  work  of  Mr. 
Dowie  and  pronounce  him  all  bad  and  his  influence  inimical  to 
societj'.    A  fair  sample  of  this  estimate  of  the  man  and  his 


CHARACTERIZATION 


41 


work;  one  which  would  receive  the  hearty  amen  of  the  vast 
majority  in  the  Christian  Churches,  appeared  in  the  New  York 
Examiner  of  October  22nd,  1903,  as  an  editorial.  It  goes 
briefly  into  the  further  problem  of  the  people  Mr.  Dowie  leads 
and  intimates  what  may  be  reasons  for  his  great  power  over 
so  large  a  group  of  people: 

ALL  THERE  IS  TO  THE  REV.  JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE. 

There  are  a  number  of  good  reasons  for  Dowie's  failure  in  New  York, 
not  the  least  among  them  being  that  he  is  a  bore.  The  Overseer  of  Zion 
really  has  nothing  to  say.  and  says  that  nothing  so  stupidly  that  a  few 
minutes  of  him  suffice  to  tire  ordinarily  intelligent  people.    .  .  . 

There  is  no  mystery  about  Dowie's  succes  as  a  "leader  and  organizer 
of  men,"  as  to  which  so  much  is  written.  You  have  but  to  see  the  men 
he  leads  in  order  to  understand  him.  They  are  as  inferior  physically  as 
mentally.  Hardly  without  exception  they  are  weak-framed,  dull-witted 
creatures  of  the  sort  who  crave  a  master  as  a  dog  does.  Dowie  at  Zion 
City  is  the  one-eyed  King  in  the  country  of  blind  men.  He  has  abounding 
vigor,  limitless  egotism  and  the  exhaustless  impudence  of  the  born  fakir. 
And  like  all  born  fakirs,  he  is  as  greedy  as  shameless. 

It  does  Dowie  too  much  honor  to  suspect  him  of  fanaticism.  There  is 
no  sincerity  to  the  man,  except  in  his  determination  to  keep  up  and  in- 
crease the  fme  business  he  has  established.  He  knows  that  the  world  is 
rich  in  fools,  and  he  is  forever  working  to  get  them  to  enlist  in  his  tithe- 
paying  army.  The  larger  his  army  grows  the  easier  it  is  to  add  to  it,  for 
the  desire  to  join  a  parading,  singing,  and  especially  a  uniformed  host, 
rises  strongly  in  the  unattached  nonentity  when  the  brass-banding  proces- 
sion passes.  To  be  one  of  a  sharply  bossed  and  thoroughly  drilled  corps 
is  a  relief  and  a  delight  to  the  flabby  and  ignorant,  since  it  exempts  them 
from  the  effort  to  boss  themselves. 

Dowie  is  a  conscious  humbug,  whose  plattorm  arts  do  not  rise  at  all 
above  those  of  the  less  ambitious  and  more  sensitive  fakirs  who  sell 
patent  medicines  at  night  under  gasoline  torches  on  the  street  corners  of 
country  towns.  The  seeming  furies  in  which  he  throws  himself  are  trans- 
parently calculated.  They  seem  to  be  his  chief  stock  in  trade.  If  he  has 
capacity  for  connected  and  sustained  discourse,  he  has  not  shown  it  in 
New  York.  The  burst  of  simulated  rage  at  the  newspapers  and  the  clergy 
are  by  way  of  advertisement.  He  is  aware  that  the  expectation  of  hearing 
him  revile  eminent  persons  and  belch  squalid  vituperation  at  the  press  will 
draw  crowds.  The  kind  of  notice  that  he  gets  from  the  newspapers,  of 
which  he  affects  to  complain,  is  precisely  the  kind  of  notice  he  desires  and 
fishes  for.    He  loves  notoriety  for  its  own  sake,  aside  from  the  money  it 


42 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


brings  him.  To  have  the  centre  of  the  stage  in  the  presence  of  a  great 
crowd,  even  though  thatcrowd  views  him  with  contemptuous  curiosity  and 
aversion,  is  to  him  what  a  bottle  is  to  a  drunkard. '  He  could  not  endure 
obscurity. 

Of  mountainous  vanity,  Dowie  is  destitute  of  pride,  and  long  ago  parted 
with  self-respect.  His  love  of  power  is  a  debasing  passion.  Since  as  a 
regular  clergyman  he  could  not  rise  to  distinction,  he  has  sought  con- 
spicuousness  and  power  by  becoming  a  shouting  mountebank,  and  struts 
at  the  head  of  his  Falstaffian  army,  gorgeous  as  a  drum  major.  The 
drunkard  may  prefer  champagne,  but  if  champagne  is  not  to  be  had  he 
will  drink  the  drippings  of  beer  kegs. 

His  experience  in  the  pulpit  and  as  a  pastor  in  the  days  before  he  became 
depraved  into  what  he  is  gives  Dowie  special  knowledge  of  how  to  insult 
Christian  men  and  women  in  their  tenderest  feelings  and  to  provoke  retort 
from  the  clergy,  which  means  advertisement,  and  advertisement  is  what 
this  repulsive  charlatan  lives  by. 

It  is  creditable  to  the  intelligence  and  moral  sense  of  New  York  that 
failure  complete,  humiliating  and,  let  it  be  hoped,  smashing,  has  come  to 
this  preacher  whose  own  prominence  and  profit  are  his  only  gospel. 
Dowie  in  seeking  a  metropolitan  triumph  has  but  pilloried  himself.  It  is 
seen  that  he  has  no  message  to  humanity;  that  he  is  a  posturing  and  bel' 
lowing  pretender,  that  he  is  without  intellect,  or  eloquence,  or  wit,  or  zeal 
for  anything  save  his  own  glorification  as  the  leader  of  a  band  of  human 
misfits  that  would  follow  any  leader  who  cared  to  shout  orders  to  them. 
It  is  true  that  he  has  business  ability,  which  is  not  a  rare  talent,  but  it  is 
combined  with  the  cunning  and  effrontery  of  the  professional  fraud. 

A  coarse-grained,  low-minded,  shame-bereft  money-greedy  adventurer, 
playing  one  minute  the  ecstatic  dervish, the  nextthe  foul-mouthed, furious, 
blackguard— that  is  Dowie,  and  all  there  is  to  Dowie.  New  York  has 
wondered  and  laughed,  and  finally  been  overcome  with  a  disgust  in  which 
there  is,  and  can  be,  mingled  no  pity,  except  for  the  dupes  of  so  gross  and 
rapacious  an  impostor. 

This  may  seem  hard,  but  for  a  man  who  has  been 
accustomeci  to  the  kindly  spirit  usually  shown  by  a  speaker 
in  the  presence  of  an  audience,  doing  him  the  favor  of  giving 
him  a  hearing,  it  does  not  seem  unjust,  altho  it  is  not  a  correct 
judgment  of  his  character  in  all  respects.  It  makes  no  allow- 
ance for  the  element  of  self-deception.* 

*  The  appearance  of  Mr.  Dowie.  In  Everybody's  Magazine  9:  S67, 
I.  K.  Friedman  says:  "His  appearance  despite  the  shortness  of  his  frame, 
his  tendency  to  fatness,  his  bow  legs  and  his  baldness  is  rather  attractive. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


43 


If  character  and  spirit  are  revealed  in  the  words  used  to 
express  thoughts,  Mr.  Dowie  is  to  say  the  least  an  extra- 
ordinary- man,  for  one  has  but  to  hear  him  once,  to  learn  that 
he  is  a  master  of  the  vilest  invectives,  the  most  offensive  bill- 
ingsgate; that  the  elemental  passions  of  anger,  pride,  hate, 
selfishness  are  still  uncontrolled  in  him  only  a  casual  observer 
would  clearly  see. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  his  chopped,  interjectory  style  of 
speaking,  and  cull  out  a  few  of  his  choicest  abusive  terms. 

He  really  wears  the  aspect  of  benevolence  and  looks  the  patriarch.  .  .  . 
His  shoulders  are  straight  and  ample,  his  eyes  bright  and  piercing,  his 
beard  white  and  flowing.  Of  his  appearance  he  is  extremely  vain,  show- 
ing that  he  is  just  as  human  as  those  who  would  cure  by  methods  less 
divine,  and  he  keeps  the  official  photographer  of  Zion  busy  by  his  constant 
posing— now  in  this  position,  now  in  that  before  the  untiring  eye  of  the 
camera.  .  .  .  His  religion  is  the  only  ancient  institution  Dowie  will 
tolerate;  in  all  else  he  is  rigidly  up  to  the  hour.  Professing  a  contempt  for 
secular  institutions  and  wordly  literature  he  yet  inconsistently  sends 
daughter  and  son  to  the  best  among  our  American  Universities.  .  .  .  The 
things  rendered  unto  Elijah  the  Second  are  shrewedly  invested  by  Elijah 
the  Restorer  for  the  benefit  of  John  Alexander  Dowie.  .  .  .  His  hobby 
is  the  collection  of  rare  old  English  magazines  that  his  more  worthy  forbears 
delighted  in.  His  home  in  Zion  City  built  in  the  English  style  of  archi- 
tecture is  lavishly  furnished,  there  is  a  stable  full  of  costly  equipages.  A 
summer  home  across  the  lake  is  maintained  in  great  luxury.  Indeed  the 
man's  vanity  and  love  of  ostentation  find  an  outlet  in  innumerable  forms 
of  gaudy  and  expressive  display.  By  way  of  justification  he  is  said  to 
have  once  remarked  that  the  Pope  of  Rome  is  surrounded  by  the  best  that 
earth  can  afford  and  there  is  no  reason  why  the  Overseer  of  the  C.  C.  C. 
should  be  left  a  whit  behind.  ...  His  private  life  has  been  in  accord- 
ance with  the  strictest  and  most  conventional  moral  laws."  (This  was 
the  uniform  belief  of  the  public  so  far  as  1  could  discover  as  well  as  his 
people,  with  perhaps  the  intimation  of  certain  irregularities  in  the  use  of 
Zion  money,  and  overbearing  tyranny,  by  those  driven  out  of  Zion  until 
the  transfer  of  the  property  by  Overseer  Voliva  and  the  return  of  Mr. 
Dowie  from  Mexico.  Then  the  charges  of  immorality  were  first  hinted  by 
the  usurping  officers  of  Zion.)  "One  is  told  of  the  Restorer's  physical 
cowardice  hid  under  an  air  of  bravado,  of  hisfear  of  lightning  and  thunder. 
Constantly  near  him  is  a  body  guard  of  strong  men,  and  he  maintains  a 
vigilant  secret  service  department." 


4+ 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


An  analysis  of  this  lar^e  output  of  indecent  epithets  shows 
poverty  of  invention,  but  earnestness  in  utterance.  A  New 
York  editor  has  pointed  out  that  in  his  Madison  Square  Gar- 
den harang-ues  there  are  at  least  thirty-five  epithets  used, 
eleven,  or  thirty  per  cent,  being  variations  of  the  uncompli- 
mentary designation  of  an  adversary  as  "a  dog."  "Cur," 
"hound,"  "dirty  yellow  dogs,"  "dirty  hungry  dogs,"  stupid 
dogs,"  liunt;ry  filthy  curs,"  give  an  idea  of  \vhat  use  Mr.  Dowie 
makes  of  this  term.  The  animal  kingdom  is  further  drawn  on 
until  it  is  almost  incredible  that  any  audience  of  ordinarily 
decent  people  could  tolerate  his  spoken  address.  "Flies," 
"rats,"  "lice,"  "maggots,"  "pigs,"  "swine,"  with  certain 
variation,  frequently  occur  in  his  speeches.* 

Lacking  in  inventiveness  he  time  after  time  uses  a  form  of 
epithet  grown  familiar  to  all  who  go  to  hear  him,  "stinkpot," 
"whiske\  i)ot,"  "beerpot,"  and  "drug  pot."  This  is  suf- 
ficient to  indi(  ate  that  the  language  of  the  gutter  falls  readily 
from  the  lips  of  Mr.  Dowie.  (It  is  true  that  the  worst  of 
these  terms  occur  in  the  later  years  of  his  ministry,  being  the 
outcome  in  part,  at  least,  of  the  opposition  and  abuse  and 
ridicule  to  which  the  "prophet"  has  been  subjected.  In  ad- 
dition however  to  indicating  lack  of  poise  and  true  self-pos- 
session, they  show  the  degeneracy  or  tendency  to  degeneracy 
of  his  moral  character.  This  point  is  discussed  more  fully  later. 

It  is  generallx  coiueded  tliat  a  man's  writings  are  more 
carefully  worded  and  furnish  materials  for  estimating  the 
man's  guarded  moments.  Thej'  show  him  when  studied  by 
trut  tiK  tliods  of  n  iiicism,  as  he  is  willing  to  be  known.  Mr. 
Dowic's  I )ul)lirations  are  less  tinctured  with  such  foulness, 
but  tluy  breathe  a  spirit  of  braggadocio,  of  conceit,  of  absolute 
confidence  in  himself,  of  jiresumption,  and  of  shamelessness.f 

*  Mrs.  Dowie  toid  me  that  during  his  New  York  visitation  he  very 
greatly  overworked  being  on  the  go  from  5  a.  m.  until  midnight  taking 
charge  of  three  large  meetings  each  day  and  that  his  irritability  was  to  be 
accounted  for  at  least  partially  by  this  fact. 

f  The  evolution  or  devolution  of  his  character  is  reflected  in  his  words, 
plans  and  achievements. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


45 


His  pamphlet  "The  Gospel  of  Divine  Healing  and  How  I 
came  to  preach  it,"  quoted  in  full  on  pages  30-33  takes  us  into 
an  atmosphere   entireh'  different  from  his  spoken  discourse. 

Compared  with  other  personal  statements,  those  of  men 
whose  sincerit3'  and  worth  are  undoubted,  this  pamphlet  cer- 
tainly carries  a  tone  of  sincerity  and  an  atmosphere  of  truth. 
As  to  the  question  of  the  healing  it  describes  no  facts  are  at 
hand,  but  from  the  statement  he  has  given,  this  man  evidently 
felt  himself  discovering,  and  using  effectiveh',  a  power  which  is 
not  ordinarih'  claimed,  and  in  a  tone  of  perfect  confidence  says 
he  has  found  Christ's  power  to  heal,  "just  the  same  toda3\" 
The  reverence,  fair  degree  of  modestv,  earnestness,  and 
absolute  confidence,  indicate  that  in  beginning  his  ministry  of 
healing  as  he  terms  it,  Mr.  Dowie  was  sincere,  and  felt  that 
he  possessed  a  real  message  which  he  was  bound  to  pro- 
claim. 

When  he  appeared  in  America  in  1888  he  came  to  spread  be- 
lief in  divine  healing  by  a  personal  ministr3',  and  healing  was  the 
main  element  in  his  preaching,  altho  he  was  at  that  time  quite 
bald,  a  sign  of  imperfect  health.*  I  am  aware  that  there  is  a 
difference  of  opinion  at  this  point,  but  the  statement  that  hair 
disease  indicates  imperfect  health  and  ought  to  be  included  in 
"all  diseases"  is  certainly  true.  He  then  knew  that  healing_ 
of  all  manner  of  sickness  and  disease  was  an  impossibility, 
for  he  did  not  heal  himself  of  this  diseaseof  the  scalp. t  What 

*  "The  Dr.  suffers  from  dyspepsia  and  frequently  can't  keep  his  food 
down,  but  the  rank  and  file  don't  know  this.  I  was  driving  with  him 
once  on  Lake  Shore  drive  and  he  had  to  part  company  with  his  dinner 
over  the  side  of  the  carriage."  (Letter  from  former  Lace  Factory  Manager 
—extract.)  It  is  hardly  to  be  questioned  that  in  addition  to  his  baldness, 
and  the  wearing  of  glasses,  that  Mr.  Dowie  has  been  far  from  well  at 
times,  altho  making  constantly  the  public  statement  that  he  was  an  en- 
tirely well  man.  This  recent  sickness  of  his  in  which  he  has  had  the  at- 
tendance of  a  physician  is  not  the  first  instance  in  which  he  has  not  been 
able  to  make  his  extravagant  claims  for  divine  healing  good  in  his  own 
case. 

t  In  the  incident  of  his  daughter's  death  Mr.  Dowie  does  not  appear 


46 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


influence  this  knowledge  had  on  his  moral  nature,  it  is  not 
possible  to  say,  but  it  must  have  been  toward  the  blunting  of 
his  conscience,  if  he  reflected  upon  its  inconsistencj'  with  his 
teachings.  Perhaps  however  this  was  not  a  drawback  to  his 
full  belief — and  honest  belief,  in  his  teaching  concerning  divine 
healing. 

The  success  which  attended  his  preaching  of  divine  healing 
and  the  number  of  persons  ready  and  eager  to  hear,  changed 
his  purpose  of  passing  through  the  United  States  and  return- 
ing to  Melbourne.  Mr.  Dowie  was  an  opportunist  at  this 
stage  of  his  career — his  success  emboldened  him.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  securing  a  large  following,  in  arresting  public  at- 
tention and  had  a  widespread  newspaper  notoriety.  When 
the  idea  of  calling  his  followers  out  of  the  churches  into  a  dis- 
tinct organization  took  hold  of  him  is  not  known,  but  he  feels 
his  way  carefully,  and  with  an  insight  that  is  remarkable, 
times  every  movement  to  the  state  of  preparedness  of  his  fol- 
lowers. The  cleverness  of  the  man  is  revealed  in  the  skill 
with  which  he  handles  his  affairs  during  the  period  of  organiza- 
tion. While  he  knew  what  the  claims  were  that  in  time  he 
would  make,  he  shrewdly  conceals  it  under  a  veil  of  modest}', 
and  what  can  hardly  fail  to  appear  as  false  humility  when  the 
later  stupendous  claims  are  made."^ 

consistent  with  his  claims  that  all  manner  of  sickness  and  disease  can  be 
healed,  but  of  course  this  happened  much  later— in  1902.  He  says:  "The 
only  sad  loss  1  have  had  was  when  one  dear  child  was  dead  before  I  got 
to  her."  Here  is  an  untruth  and  an  inconsistency— his  daughter  was  not 
dead,  but  lingered  some  time  after  he  reached  her  side— twelve  hours 
—in  any  case  he  knew  of  her  accident  and  claims  that  healing  can  be  ac- 
complished at  a  distance. 

*The  question  naturally  arises,  why  was  Mr.  Dowie  able  to  persuade 
a  sufficient  following  to  leave  the  existing  religious  organizations  to  accept 
his  doctrines  and  submit  to  his  plans.  The  same  question  is  answered  in 
respect  to  Joseph  Smith  and  the  rise  of  Mormonism  in  "The  Founder  of 
Mormonism,"  Chapter  11,  1.  W.  ffiley,  in  so  far  as  it  relates  to  conditions 
favorable  to  Smith  existing  in  western  New  York  at  the  time  ot  his 
visions.    We  will  discuss  it  under  the  heading,  The  People  of  Zion. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


47 


In  his  address  of  January  22,  1896,*  he  sets  forth  the 
Divine  organization  of  the  church,  i  Cor.  12:28  reads:  "And 
God  hath  set  some  in  the  church,  first  apostles,  secondarily 
prophets,  thirdly  teachers,  after  that  miracles,  then  gifts  of 
healings,  helps,  governments,  diversities  of  tongues."  He 
says  "Now  then,  what  is  the  way  of  perfect  wisdom  as  to  the 
order  of  the  church?  What  is  the  first  office  God  has 
established?"  Answer,  "Apostles."  The  second?"  "Proph- 
ets." "The  third?"  "Teachers."  "Now  then,  did  God 
form  a  church  with  these  officers?"  "He  did."  "is  that  the 
order  of  the  church  of  God?"  "it  is."  "Does  the  church  of 
God  ever  alter?"  "No."  "Can  the  church  of  God  be  ac- 
ceptable to  Christ  if  it  is  not  organized  after  His  own  order?" 
"No."t 

"Now  the  question  arises,  is  the  Apostolic  office  a  perpetual 
one?"  ...  "I  affirm  that  the  church  cannot  be  changed 
and  cannot  be  Catholic  unless  it  is  Apostolic.  The  apostolic 
office  must  be  declared  as  belonging  to  the  church,  if  we  shall 
form  a  church  and  it  shall  be  declared  to  be  a  perpetual  office. 
It  is  our  duty  to  declare  that  the  church  of  God  shall  eventu- 
ally and  as  speedily  as  possible,  be  so  organized.  We  have 
nothing  to  do  with  consequences.  God  will  call  his  apostles 
in  his  own  time  and  way  by  the  Holy  Spirit." 

An  exposition  of  the  idea  of  the  permanence  of  the  apostolic, 
prophetic  and  teaching  office  follows,  in  which  Mr.  Dowie 
asserts  that  every  apostle  was  also  a  prophet  and  a  teacher.  J 
In  the  address  of  February  5,  1896,  he  sa^'s  in  speaking  of  the 
continuance  of  inspiration,  "in  regard  to  this,  I  sa}',  that  if  I 

*  Reprints  of  Report  of  First  and  Second  Conference  held  in  1896  look- 
ing towards  the  formation  of  the  C.  C.  C,  L.  of  H.,  Vol.  15,  No.  21. 
p.  209. 

tThe  people  respond  in  unison— a  common  way  he  has  of  securing  ap- 
probation in  anything  whatever  he  has  in  mind.  It  is  remarkable  with 
what  promptness  and  unanimity  his  people  reply  to  his  questions.  All 
this  is  a  general  line  of  evidence  for  believing  them  highly  suggestible. 
See  Chapter  People  of  Zion. 

t  L.  of  H.,  September  10,  1904,  pp.  709-10. 


48 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


am  God's  minister  in  this  matter,  and  I  write  to  .vou  something 
that  is  in  accord  with  Scripture,  then  you  are  bound  to  receive 
that  just  as  much  as  if  the  Apostle  Paul  wrote  it.  You  will 
please  to  observe  my  qualifications.  If  I  write  to  you  some- 
thing' that  is  in  perfect  accord  with  the  word  of  God  I  have  just 
as  much  right  to  write  that  as  the  Apostle  Paul  had  to  write. 
Not  to  add  to  the  word  of  God,  but  to  explain  and  apply  it." 

Rev.  Dr.  Burns  asks  the  question,  "Are  we  then  to  under- 
stand if  there  should  be  some  future  apostles,  that  we  are  to 
build  upon  them,  as  upon  the  First  Apostles?" 

Mr.  Dowie:  .  .  .  "The  same  organization  is  just  as 
necessary  today  as  it  was  nineteen  centuries  ago.  That  is 
the  position."  Mr.  Marsh.  "If  we  are  worthy  of  the  office, 
the  office  will  come  to  us,  and  if  we  are  not,  it  won't." 

Mr.  Dowie:  "I  am  not  claiming  any  office;  no  man  has 
heard  me  claim  any  office.  I  am  a  teacher  and  have  taken  no 
other  place.  I  have  not  stood  here  claiming  to  be  recognized 
as  a  prophet.  I  have  not  stood  here  claiming  to  be  recognized 
as  an  apostle.  I  have  stood  here  as  an  authoritative  teacher. 
If  I  am  a  leader,  I  am  a  leader.  If  I  am  a  teacher,  I  am  a 
teacher.  If  I  am  a  prophet,  I  am  a  prophet.  If  I  am  an 
apostle,  I  am  an  apostle.  I  am  so  whether  you  recgnize  it 
or  not.  I  am  so  whether  I  recognize  it  or  not.  I  am  just 
what  God  made  me,  and  at  this  moment  I  claim  no  prophetic 
or  apostolic  office  ])ower.  1  said  in  my  first  address,  dis- 
tinctly and  positively,  that  I  did  not  see  the  apostles." 

Mr.  Calverly  then  makes  quite  a  speech  and  among  other 
things  says  *  "in  regard  to  one  point:  I  remember  Dr.  Dowie 
saying  in  a  kind  of  sad  and  gloomy  way;  'l  don't  know  that  I 
can  see  any  of  the  apostles  yet,'  but  I  think  I  can  see  one,  and  I 
think  he  is  the  chief  of  modern  apostles,"  looking  to  Dr. 
Dowie  amid  great  applause. t 

*L.  of  H.  Vol.  IS,  No.  21,  pp.  717-18. 

t  Notice  the  consummate  skill  of  Mr.  Dowie  as  a  "Promoter."  He 
edited  of  course  all  reports  from  which  the  quotations  are  taken. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


49 


Dr.  Dowie:  "I  have  not  the  slightest  idea,  not  the 
slightest,  but  that  our  dear  Brother  Calverly  spoke  with  that 
perfect  honesty  which  has  always  characterized  him,  and  that 
he  would  not  have  been  guilty,  for  a  moment,  of  flattery.  I 
would  despise  a  man  who  would  attempt  to  flatter  me,  and  I 
do  not  imply,  for  a  moment,  but  what  Brother  Calverly  was 
perfecth'  honest  in  proclaiming  me  to  be  an  apostle." 

"But  I  am  too  perfectly  honest  when  with  no  mock  humility 
I  say  to  you,  from  my  heart,  I  do  not  think  I  have  reached  a 
deep  enough  depth  of  true  humility,  .  .  .  for  the  high  office  of 
apostle,  such  as  he  had  reached  who  would  say  and  mean  it 
too,  *I  am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,  and  not  worthy  to 
be  called  an  apostle.'  But  if  my  good  Lord  can  ever  get  me 
low  enough  in  self-abasement,  and  self-effacement,  to  be  truly 
what  I  want  to  be,  and  hope  in  a  measure  I  am,  'a  servant  of 
the  servants  of  the  Lord,'  why  then  I  should  bean  apostle  by 
really  becoming  the  servant  of  all.  ...  If  I  should  be 
called  to  that  office,  I  feel  I  should  be  called  in  the  depth  of 
my  heart  to  die.  I  do  not  think  I  am  afraid  to  die  for  Christ;  1 
live  for  him.  .  .  .  I  do  not  know  if  any  persons  here  have  got 
a  notion  in  their  minds  that  the  apostolic  office  means  a  high 
pompous  position,  wearing  a  tiara  and  swaying  a  scepter,  if  so 
they  are  entirely  wrong.  It  means  a  high  position  truly,  but 
the  power  of  one  who  can  take  the  lowest  place."  This  really 
seems  like  humor  in  the  light  of  subsequent  developments.  If 
Mr.  Dowie  has  ever  shown  any  real  humility,  either  before  or 
after  it  has  not  been  very  evident  to  most  impartial  readers  of 
the  Leaves  of  Healing,  or  hearers  of  Mr.  Dowie. 

"l  think  some  of  you  have  got  a  very  false  conception  of 
power  in  the  church  of  God.  Power  in  the  church  of  God  is 
not  like  power  in  the  government  of  the  United  States,  where 
a  man  climbs  to  the  top  of  a  p5'ramid  of  his  fellows  to  the 
acme  of  his  ambition,  and  there  makes  it  fulfill  his  personal 
pride  and  purpose.  Power  in  the  church  of  God  is  shown  in 
this,  that  a  man  shall  get  lower,  and  lower,  and  lower,  until 
he  can  put  his  very  spirit,  soul  and  body  underneath  the 


50 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


miseries  and  at  the  feet  of  a  sin-cursed  and  disease-smitten 
humanity  and  live  and  die  for  it — this  is  what  I  understand  by 
Apostolic  office."    (Great  applause.) 

From  these  quotations,  which  are  made  at  length  purposely 
to  show  Mr.  Dowie's  spirit,  we  see  that  he  affects  an  unwill- 
ingness to  be  more  than  a  teacher,  and  claims  no  prophetic 
power.  True,  some  of  his  people  would  go  ahead  of  him  and 
regard  him  as  an  apostle,  but  by  prophet  and  apostle  his  fol- 
lowers did  not  then  understand  what  Mr.  Dowie  had  in  mind.  In 
time  he  would  claim  to  be  Elijah  the  Restorer,  and  the  First 
Apostle,  really  standing  in  the  place  of  Christ  to  the  Christian 
Catholic  Church  of  his  organizing. 

We  can  almost  look  into  his  mind  and  say  he  knew  this  to 
be  the  outcome  and  that  he  hyprocritically  feigned  a  lowliness 
that  shrunk  back  from  this  place  of  power,  when  his  everj' 
subsequent  action  has  shown  him  to  thirst  for  authority  and 
power.  The  wonder  is  that  his  followers,  even  the  more  in- 
telligent of  his  officers,  (excepting  an  occasional  objector,  who 
is  summarily  dealt  with  and  dismissed  from  Zion)  accepted 
his  absolutism  as  perfectly  right  and  proper.*  Mr.  Dowie  in 
1896  may  have  "doubted  whereunto  this  thing  would  grow," 
but  to  whatever  extent  it  did  grow  he  was  clearlv  determined 
to  be  the  head.  Every  element  introduced  into  the  reports  are 
calculated  to  strengthen  his  hold  upon  a  people  already  in- 
clined to  have  him  for  a  leader.  Added  to  great  patience  in 
biding  his  time  is  a  shrewdness  bordering  upon  hyprocricy, 
which  led  an  unwary  following,  step  by  step,  to  the  place 
where  they  must  accept  the  alternative  of  renouncing  him  en- 
tirely, or  giving  him  more  authority,  until  he  came  to  be  strong 
enough  to  assume  absolute  authority,  and  then  point  back  to 
the  beginning  of  his  movement  and  show  that  such  had  been 
the  drift  of  events  from  the  first.  It  is  analogous  to  the  way 
the  claim  of  papal  infallibility  was  supported  after  the  dogma 

*  Since  writing  this  I  learned  from  Mrs.  Dowie  that  there  has  been 
an  undercurrent  of  objection  altho  no  one  seemed  to  dare  oppose  him 
openly. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


51 


had  been  enunciated,  and  is  a  familiar  phenomenon  inhiston-.* 

♦There  was  a  significant  remark  made  by  Mr.  Dowie  in  this  same  Con- 
ference, Feb.  5,  1896.  (L.  of  H.,  September  10,  1904,  p.  715)  showing  his 
shrewdness:  "My  address  upon  organization,  and  the  basis  of  organization 
as  set  forth  in  the  address  of  January  22,  1896,  are  open,  not  for  discussion 
by  those  who  are  not  prepared  to  associate  themselves  with  us,  because 
we  have  not  any  time  to  hear  them,  but  for  any  intelligent  remarks,  and 
for  questions,  by  those  who  are  in  sympathy  with  us,  and  who  have  a 
desire,  if  they  can  see  with  us,  to  go  forward  in  the  organization  of  this 
church."  Here  we  see  that  one  who  was  not  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
movement  was  not  to  speak.  It  has  been  demonstrated  time  and  again 
that  if  a  leader  of  any  movement  can  prevent  dissenting  voices  being 
heard,  the  appearance  of  unanimity  will  bring  many,  otherwise  undecided, 
into  the  movement.  Mr.  Dowie  was  ever  awake  to  psychological  moments 
tor  presenting  his  plans,  and  always  saw  to  it  that  the  atmosphere  would 
favor  his  projects.  A  friend  of  mine  was  compelled  to  leave  a  divine 
healing  meeting  of  Mr.  Dowie's  because  he  said  plainly,  when  asked,  that 
he  didn't  believe  in  such  healings  at  all. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  CONTINUED. 

The  claim  is  made  that  the  early  conference  resulted  in  only 
a  provisional  organization,  and  that  the  organization  of  the 
church  as  it  came  to  exist,  with  John  Alexander  already 
declared  Apostle,  the  others  to  be  selected,*  was  clearly  in- 
tended to  be  the  ultimate  outcome  of  the  steps  taken  in  1896. 

In  a  personal  letter,  Leaves  of  Healing  of  September  10, 
1904,  which  is  by  its  position  in  the  paper,  evidently 
apologetic,  and  designed  to  make  "straight  the  path"  for  the 
First  Apostle,  Mr.  Dowie  himself  says,  "These  reports  t 
will  give  careful  readers  a  clear  view  of  the  evolution  of  the 
Christian  Catholic  Church  in  Zion,  in  one  citv,  of  less  than 
five  hundred  members,  to  a  world-wide  church,  numbering 
scores  of  thousands  of  members.  .  .  .  Thej'  also  trace  the 
Divine  evolution,  b}'  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  their  leader  from  a 
Christian  teacher  and  the  prophet  of  the  Restoration  into  a 
divinely-commissioned  Apostle.  ...  As  the  teacher  of  the 
Christian  Catholic  Church  in  Zion,  ...  I  continued  to 
develop  practically  these  principles  in  my  ministry,  and  God 
used  me  to  prepare  the  church  for  the  declaration  of  June  2, 
1901.  I  there  stood  forth  before  an  immense  audience  in  the 
Chicago  Auditorium  and  declared  that  God  had  sent  me  as  John 

*On  December  18.  1905,  when  Mr.  Dowie,  because  of  failing  health, 
abdicated  his  place  of  supreme  power  in  Zion  and  gave  the  temporal 
matters  into  the  care  of  a  triumvirate,  Overseer  Speicher,  Judge  V.  V. 
Barnes,  and  Deacon  Granger,  he  also  saw  the  necessity  of  indicating  who 
the  other  apostles  would  be  and  so  declared  that  those  whom  he  should 
select  would  be  raised  to  that  dignity  the  following  summer,  1906. 

t  Reports  of  conferences  of  ordained  officers  on  the  subject  of  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Apostolic  office  to  the  church. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


53 


the  Baptist  had  been  sent,  in  the  'Spirit  and  power  of  Elijah.' 
...  I  have  prepared  the  church  for  the  declaration,  which, 
God  permitting,  I  shall  make  on  Lord's  day  afternoon,  Sep- 
tember i8th,  in  Shiloh  Tabernacle,  Zion  City,  as  the  divinely- 
commissioned  First  Apostle  of  the  Christian  Catholic  Apostolic 
Church  in  Zion." 

One  who  holds  office  in  Zion  said  to  me  "this  isn't  unex- 
pected; this  declaration  that  Dr.  Dowie  is  the  First  Apostle; 
the  well-informed  in  Zion  have  known  it  all  along;"  and  Mr. 
Dowie's  own  word's  are  "l  have  prepared  the  church  for  the 
declaration."  Mr.  Dowie  had  it  planned;  the  well-informed 
knew;  the  people  had  to  be  prepared.  We  cannot  escape  the 
coviction  that  Mr.  Dowie  had  foresight  and  shrewdness  of  an 
extraordinary  sort.  The  majority  of  his  followers  at  the 
organization  of  the  Christian  Catholic  Church  little  dreamed 
such  would  be  the  outcome,  and  the  mass  of  those  who  have 
been  made  followers  since,  came  into  his  church  scarcely 
giving  it  a  thought.  But  the}'  have  been  "prepared."  Bold- 
ness in  conception  and  patience  in  execution  are  immediately 
seen  to  be  among  Mr.  Dowie's  characteristics.  He  is  not 
simply  the  child  of  accident,  altho  this  he  was  when  he  dis- 
covered the  success  of  his  divine  healing  schemes  in  this 
country.  He  is  a  man  of  power,  for  it  required  great  skill  to 
take  advantage  of  this  discovery,  and  turn  it  to  such  good 
account  in  the  founding  and  furthering  of  his  enterprises.  He 
clearly  proves  in  this  his  ability,  and  his  followers  can  justly 
claim  that  their  leader  is  a  great  man.  A  cartoon  in  this  same 
copy  of  the  Leaves  of  Healing,  September  lo,  1904,  indicated 
that  Mr.  Dowie  had  the  conception  of  the  present  organiza- 
tion of  Zion  when  he  addressed  the  conference  in  Chicago, 
January  22,  1896,  before  the  temporary  organization  had  been 
formed.  In  the  cartoon  is  a  large  stone  building  represent- 
ing a  power  house,  with  the  words  "Apostolic  Organization" 
over  the  arched  doorway,  and  a  flag  flying  above  the  roof  with 
the  words  "Apostolic  Power  House."  Scaffoldings  in  front 
are   labelled,  "Temporary   organization  Christian  Catholic 


54 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


Church  in  Zion."  A  wooden  building  of  smaller  dimensions 
at  one  side  flies  the  flag  "Temporary  organization,  Prophetic 
Ministry."  In  one  corner  is  given  a  quotation  from  Mr. 
Dowie's  speech  of  January  22,  1896:  "I  affirm  that  the 
church  cannot  be  Christian,  and  cannot  be  Catholic,  unless  it 
is  Apostolic.  The  Apostolic  office  must  be  declared  as  belong- 
ing to  the  church  .  .  .  and  it  shall  be  declared  to  be  a  per- 
petual office.  It  is  our  duty  to  declare  that  the  church  of  God 
shall  eventually,  and  as  speedily  as  possible,  be  so  organized. 
We  have  nothing  to  do  with  consequences.  God  will  call  His 
apostles  in  His  own  time  and  way  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  * 

Mr.  Dowie  may  have  become  "intoxicated  with  notoriet}^" 
and  this  intoxication  may  in  part  account  for  his  bold  assump- 
tions, but  that  forethought,  practical  sagacity,  and  cleverness 
of  execution  and  administration  are  seen  in  this  carefully 
planned  and  administered  movement  none  can  deny.  He  had 
great  ability  and  manifest  power  to  bring  things  to  pass  with 
a  large  measure  of  success.  His  executive  and  administrative 
ability  could  easily  exist  apart  from  any  question  of  sincerity  or 
duplicity,  but  there  must  be  sufficient  motive  for  his  persist- 
ence and  pat-ient  working  out  of  his  ptens.  In  the  preaching 
of  divine  healing  it  is  clear  from  the  apologetic  cited  t  that  he 

*  in  this  same  cartoon  at  one  side  Mr.  Dowie  is  standing  by  a  work 
bench  marked  "Restoration  Work  Bench"  with  carpenter's  tools  to  repre- 
sent "The  Master  Builder."  He  is  unrolling  what  represents  his  specifica- 
tions which  read:  "So  then  ye  are  no  more  strangers  and  sojourners,  but 
ye  are  fellow  citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God,  being 
built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Christhimself  being 
the  chief  cornerstone,"  Eph.  2:  19,  20.  The  cartoon  is  really  clever  and,  just 
as  does  every  advertisement  or  publication  that  goes  forth  from  Zion,  it 
lauds  Mr.  Dowie  and  furnishes  suggestion  to  establish  in  the  minds  of 
Zion's  people  the  importance,  wisdom  and  power  of  their  leader.  The 
cartoonist  in  Zion,  Deacon  Champe,  who  illustrates  Mr.  Dowie's  ad- 
dresses or  some  special  announcement,  has  excellent  ability  and  Mr. 
Dowie  with  keen  insight  has  made  use  of  the  "wisdom  of  the  children 
of  the  world"  in  attracting  the  attention  of  outsiders  to  his  Zion. 

t  Pages  30-33. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


55 


began  it  in  all  sincerity,  and  developed  what  he  terms  his 
gospel  of  "salvation,  healing  and  holy  living"  from  an  honest 
conviction  that  he  was  restoring  neglected  truths  of  the  Bible 
to  their  rightful  place.  The  secret  of  much  of  his  tenacity,  en- 
durance, persistence,  fearlessness  and  success,  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  he  began  as  he  verily  believed  b\'  hearing  and  heed- 
ing God's  call  in  circumstances  and  in  the  Bible.  Accepting 
the  Bible  as  he  evidently  does  as  a  code  of  authority,  in  a 
literal,  legalistic  way,  (and  he  has  plenty  of  company  in  this 
among  better  balanced  interpreters)  he  has  found  materials 
upon  which  to  build  his  system  of  "salvation,  healing  and  hoh' 
living,"  without  any  twist  of  conscience,  however  much  his 
judgment  might  err  in  the  interpretation  of  particular  passages, 
and  his  philosophy  be  at  fault.  Entire  moral  consistency  is 
possible  to  him  even  while  holding  and  teaching  the  doctrines 
upon  which  he  lays  special  emphasis.  People  of  absolutely 
unquestioned  moral  consistency  had  been  teaching  "divine  heal- 
ing" and  kindred  ideas,  "tobacco  as  a  cause  of  disease,"  "sick- 
ness caused  by  sin  and  Satan,"  "poisonous  effects  of  oysters 
and  swine's  flesh,"  long  before  Mr.  Dowie  began  his  career 
in  this  country.  Nearly  every  one  of  the  ideas  of  Mr.  Dowie 
on  these  subjects  are  presented  in  the  pamphlets  published  by 
Evangelist  J.  J.  Scruby  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  and  the  same 
Biblical  authority'  quoted  in  their  support.  Yet  Mr.  Scruby 
has  no  faith  in  the  Christian  Catholic  Church  in  Zion  move- 
ment of  Mr.  Dowie. 

We  are  compelled  to  think  therefore  that  in  coming  to  the 
place  where  he  felt  it  a  duty  to  preach  "divine  healing"  and 
its  corollary  "holy  living,"  Mr.  Dowie  was  at  least  sincere, 
and  furthermore  that  in  continuing  the  proclamation  of  these 
ideas  after  his  success  was  assured,  he  does  so  from  moral  con- 
viction. What  mixture  of  other  motives  there  may  be  to  make 
him  continue  insisting  upon  these  ideas  can  only  be  partially 
ascertained.  These  teachings  are  found  to  influence  certain 
classes  who  thus  further  his  general  plan  of  building  up  an 
immense  industrial  movement.      "Divine    healing,"  which 


56 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


arrests  the  attention,  and  "clean  living,"  which  enlists  the 
interest  of  many  in  the  churches  who  can  furnish  capital  for 
his  commercial  enterprises,  are  preached  with  even  greater 
emphasis,  since  they  are  seen  to  be  effective. 

So  Mr.  Dowie  has  created  for  himself  a  double  moral  con- 
sciousness, on  the  one  hand  conscientiously  following  the  bid- 
ding of  a  legalistically  interpreted  code  of  authority,  the 
Bible,  and  doing  what  a  mistaken  interpretation  leads  him  to 
feel  his  dut^',  because  an  accidental  incident  brought  it  to  his 
attention.  On  the  other,  intoxicated  with  success,  and  power, 
he  has  come  to  feel  himself  in  an  extraordinary  way  a  chan- 
nel of  God's  grace  to  the  world;  is  morally  insane  enough  to  be- 
lieve in  his  own  greatness,  and  to  use  every  means  available, 
deception  and  hypocrisy  included,  to  further  his  will,  which  he 
has  confounded  with  that  of  God.  He  preaches  his  three-fold 
gospel  of  "salvation,  healing  and  holy  living"  conscientiousU', 
and  not  a  small  part  of  his  power  rests  upon  the  ethical  force 
of  his  teachings  as  well  as  upon  the  hope  of  healing  his  fol- 
lowers have.  He  genuinely  believes  in  himself,  indeed  so 
firmly  does  he  believe  in  himself  that  in  his  consciousness  he 
has  identified  himself  with  Elijah,  honestly  believing  that  he 
is  a  re-incarnation  of  that  personage.  We  call  this  self-decep- 
tion for  want  of  a  better  term,  but  whatever  it  is,  it  wonder- 
fully reinforces  his  mental  and  moral  nature  to  have  a  con- 
sciousness of  this  kind. 

In  regard  to  the  title  Elijah  he  says  "The  name  is  not  a 
title;  it  is  a  reality.  I  firmly  believe  in  common  with  tens  of 
thousands  of  my  followers  that  I  have  been  sent  b\'  God  in  the 
'Spirit  and  power  of  Elijah'  as  the  third  and  last  manifestation 
of  that  prophet. 

"The  first  manifestation  was  in  Elijah  (which  means 
Jehovah  is  my  God)  twenty-eight  centuries  ago,  when  the 
worship  of  Baal  was  triumphant  in  Israel.  This  was  Elijah 
the  Destroyer. 

"The  second  manifestation  was  in  the  person  of  John  the 
Baptist.    Matthew  13:14.    He  was  Elijah  the  Preparer. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


57 


"The  third  manifestation  of  Elijah  is  in  my  person,  of  whom 
Christ  spoke,  after  John  the  Baptist's  death,  when  he  admitted 
the  correctness  of  the  rabbinical  contention  'Elijah  must  first 
come,'  saying  'Elijah  indeed  cometh  and  shall  restore  all 
things.'    I  am  Elijah  the  Restorer." 

One  cannot  listen  to  Mr.  Dowie  and  doubt  his  sincerity  of 
belief  in  himself  and  his  work.  If  he  has  "hypnotized  his  fol- 
lowers," as  his  critics  claim,  he  has  doubl_v  hypnotized  him- 
self. He  has  certainly  come  to  believe  that  he  is  Elijah  and 
has  come  to  this  conviction  by  the  law  of  suggestion.  Perhaps 
we  can  trace  the  steps  leading  to  this  particular  conviction, 
which  is  more  than  a  hallucination,  for  he  has  lived  with  it,  at 
least  since  June,  1901.  The  Bible  is  his  authority.  Whatever 
he  thinks  it  enjoins  it  is  easy  to  accept  as  a  duty.  It  taught 
"divine  healing"  as  he  thought.  It  gave  the  form  of  the 
primitive  church  organization,  which  called  for  apostles, 
prophets,  and  teachers.  It  spoke  of  a  restorer  of  all  things, 
and  among  these  divine  healing  and  primitive  officers  and 
powers  were  to  be  included.  This  restorer  would  be,  accord- 
ing to  Jesus,  none  other  than  Elijah.  Mr.  Dowie  had  already 
restored  divine  healing  and  a  true  conception  of  primitive 
organization,  (as  he  thought)  and  was  placing  emphasis  upon 
repentance  and  holy  living,  primitive  doctrines.  The  thought 
may  have  come  to  Mr.  Dowie,  first,  "l  am  he,"  that  is  Elijah 
the  Restorer,  suggested  by  these  circumstances  and  apparent 
coincidences  between  his  "restoring"  and  the  work  of  the  pre- 
dicted '  'restorer. "  Or  it  may  have  come  to  some  of  his  followers 
more  susceptible  to  suggestion  by  circumstances.  Among  the 
"tens  of  thousands"  of  his  people,  of  whom  he  speaks  as  be- 
lieving "that  I  have  been  sent  by  God  'in  the  spirit  and  power 
of  Elijah.'  "  there  were  some  "well-informed  ones"  who  had 
suggested  to  Mr.  Dowie  that  he  was  indeed  "that  prophet." 
If  the  suggestion  came  first  through  his  seeing  the  relation 
between  what  he  was  doing  and  what  he  interpreted  the  scrip- 
tures as  teaching  that  the  predicted  Elijah  would  do,  he  gladly 
welcomed  the  further  suggestion  of  those  of  his  followers  who 


58 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


had  also  seen  it,  or  if  it  was  brought  to  his  attention  by  his 
friends  first,  he  could  easily  come  to  see  that  the  scripture 
idea  of  a  restorer  as  he  held  it  coincided  with  his  own  character 
and  work.  A  conceit  and  feeling  of  importance  which  appears 
in  all  of  his  published  works  would  only  too  readily  welcome, 
entertain  and  fully  adopt  the  suggestion.  Mr.  Dowie  is  self- 
hypnotized  or  hypnotized  by  his  following. 

His  love  of  power  and  notoriety  and  flattery,  the  existence 
of  which  need  no  proving,  would  furnish  reinforcement  to  the 
suggestion.*  Thus  it  becomes  a  conviction  furnishing  suf- 
ficient motive  to  lead  to  its  public  announcement  irrespective 
of  the  attitude  of  hostile  critics  or  the  loss  of  a  few  followers. 

It  is  because  he  was  drunk  with  power  and  love  of  notoriety, 
rather  than  because  of  conscious  hypocricy,  that  he  yielded 
to  the  suggestion  or  suggestions. 

To  an  ability  for  business,  and  for  religious  leadership,  by 
no  means  mediocre,  as  proven  by  the  accumulation  of  a  valuable 
property,!  and  the  absolute  confidence  of  a  growing  religious 
constituency,  is  thus  added  all  the  inspiration  of  a  conscious- 
ness that  he  is  fulfilling  God's  will  and  doing  the  work  of  a 
great  prophet.  Imagine  a  missionary  of  more  than  ordinary 
ability,  but  with  some  mental  or  spiritual  weakness,  led  to  feel 
himself  a  reincarnation  of  the  Apostle  Paul.  The  glorious 
ideal  of  fearlessness,  devotional  loyalty  to  Christ,  endurance, 
and  achievement,  found  in  Paul,  would  furnish  that  mission- 
ary with  stimulus  sufficient  to  dare  any  danger  and  undertake 
any  project  for  evangelizing  a  world,  which  he  deemed  lost 
without  his  message.  Add  to  this  ability  of  the  missionary 
an  insatiable  love  of  power,  and  thirst  for  notoriety,  and  a 
conceit  for  being  considered  odd  and  unusual,  and  you  have  the 
combination  which  made  Mr.  Dowie  a  man  of  influence — a 
megalomaniac  of  the  more  powerful  sort. 

*His  family  confess  his  love  for  praise  and  the  readiness  with  which  he 
has  yieldea  to  any  who  have  flattered  him. 

tit  might  better  be  said  ability  as  a  promoter  as  his  administrative 
ability  in  business  has  been  shown  to  have  been  greatly  over-estimated. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


59 


How  did  he  come  to  add  the  title  of  Apostle  to  that  of  Over- 
seer and  Prophet?  The  answer  to  this  does  no  more  than 
illustrate  the  fact  that  Mr.  Dowie  is  mentally  consistent  in 
carrying  out  his  plans  and  views  of  Scripture  teaching.  The 
original  authorities  in  the  church  he  says  were  apostles, 
prophets,  teachers.  It  also  illustrates  the  plausible  nature  of 
Scripture  interpretation  accepted  in  Zion.  Apostles  were 
needed  to  complete  the  organization  of  the  Christian  Catholic 
Church.  Mr.  Dowie,  the  reincarnation  of  Elijah  and  John 
the  Baptist,  (one  and  the  same  personality)  already  the 
General  Overseer,  will  of  course  be  one,  the  first  and  for  a 
long  time  the  only.  The  Ecclesiastical  Secretary  of  Zion  ex- 
plained it  to  me  as  follows:  "Christ  said  to  the  Jews,  (speak- 
ing of  John  the  Baptist),  'What  went  ye  out  for  to  see?  A 
prophet?  Yea,  I  say  unto  you,  and  more  than  a  prophet.' 
The  Overseer  who  is  John  the  Baptist  or  Elijah  is  a  prophet 
and  more  than  a  prophet;  if  more  than  a  prophet  then  an 
apostle,  for  that  is  the  only  officer  in  the  church  greater  than 
a  prophet.    Hence,  John  the  Baptist  was  an  apostle." 

To  be  an  apostle  then  does  not  add  anything  definite  to  the 
consciousness  of  Mr.  Dowie,  who  was  living  already  in  the 
conviction  that  he  is  Elijah  or  John  the  Baptist,  the  Restorer, 
It  only  adds  one  more  supposed  honor  to  a  man  who  finds  it 
his  meat  and  drink  to  be  honored  and  titled,  and  he  requires 
his  people  to  address  him  as  "First  Apostle"  and  to  speak  of 
him  as  such. 

Mr.  Dowie  has  developed  the  vice  of  the  superlative  and 
never  loses  an  opportunity  to  speak  of  himself  or  his  work  in 
the  most  exalted  terms.  He  does  this  methodically,  and  it 
goes  a  great  way  toward  duly  impressing  his  people  with  the 
idea  that  Zion  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  movements  in  all 
histor\'.  Before  Mr.  Dowie's  overthrow,  a  man  who  inclined 
toward  Zion  said  to  me  that  Mr.  Dowie  must  indeed  be  a  man  of 
God  on  account  of  the  great  success  he  was  having.  This 
statement  was  rfiade  after  quoting  some  of  the  statistics  Mr. 
Dowie  had  powerfully  paaraded  in  one  of  his  papers.  Without 


6o 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


discussing^  the  fallacy  of  this  reasoning,  which  a  little  look  into 
history  would  reveal,  we  notice  the  fact  that  Mr.  Dowie's 
shrewdness  in  duly  impressing  his  people,  and  his  vanity,  are 
both  displa^-ed  in  his  own  account  of  his  affairs,  and  have  had 
great  influence.    Here  are  samples  of  his  statements:* 

"Our  mail  arriving  in  great  piles,  and  representing  every 
land  beneath  the  sun,  and  everv  State  in  this  Union,  some- 
times to  the  number  of  2,000  letters  a  week,  the  wonderful 
and  ever-increasing  number  of  requests  for  prayer  which  come 
to  us  not  onlv  in  these  letters,  but  in  telegrams  and  cable- 
grams, from  all  parts  of  the  world,  for  there  is  not  now  a 
land  beneath  the  sun  with  which  we  are  not  inconstant  touch, 
.  .  .  thousands  upon  thousands  gather  from  Sabbath  to  Sab- 
bath in  Chicago  Auditorium  and  we  increasingly  find  that 
through  these  meetings  every  part  of  the  United  States  and 
distant  lands  are  influenced."  This  last  was  spoken  in  1896 
when  Mr.  Dowie's  following  was  not  very  large,  and  while  he 
thus  flatters  his  own  vanity  he  is  pumping  enthusiasm  into 
his  people. 

In  a  personal  letter  to  his  people,  dated  September  9th, 
1904,  he  acknowledges  that  in  the  winter  of  1896  he  had  only 
five  hundred  members  in  the  Christian  Catholic  Church,  hardly 
consistent  with  the  statements  of  the  foregoing  paragraph. 
But  he  further  says  "l  stand  today  amidst  the  glory  of  the 
harvest,  surrounded  b\'  hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  educated 
experienced  people  and  faithful  officers  of  all  ranks;  sur- 
rounded b_v  sweet  singers  in  thousands;  .  .  .  surrounded  by 
tens  and  tens  of  thousands  of  saved  and  consecrated  members 
of  the  Christian  Catholic  Church  in  Zion;  and  surrounded  by 
more  than  eight  thousand  messengers  of  God  in  the  splendid 
organization  known  as  Zion  Restoration  Host.  I  stand  with 
my  hands  upon  the  lever  which  controls  many  mighty  powers, 
such  as  Zion  Printing  and  Publishing  House  which  I  use  for 
God  and  humanity.  I  stand  in  the  midst  of  the  City  of  Zion 
with  its  population  of  many  thousands   .    .   .    and  where 

*L.  of  H.,  Vol.  15,  No.  21,  p.  703. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


6i 


thousands  of  Zion  children  and  youth  throng  Zion  schools  and 
colleges.* 

Mr.  Dowie  is  hardly  within  the  bounds  of  fact  when  he  says 
"tens  and  tens  of  thousands:"  and  when  he  speaks  of  "thous- 
ands of  children  and  youth  in  Zion  City,"  the  spirit  of 
exaggeration  is  upon  him. 

He  also  took  particular  pains  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  thousands  came  to  hear  him  in  New  York,  while  the 
preachers  who  were  trying  to  instruct  him  how  to  preach  were 
in  the  habit  of  addressing  hundreds.  In  that  city  he  clearly 
demonstrated  during  the  1903  visitation  that  he  thirsted  to 
have  a  multitude  giving  him  attention,  and  no  opportunity 
has  been  allowed  to  pass  since  then  to  refer  to  the  multitudes 
who  came  to  hear,  but  he  fails  to  mention  the  sensational  and 
disgraceful  means  employed  to  bring  out  a  curiosity  smitten 
crowd.t 

In  addresses  given  in  Carnegie  Hall,  New  York,  Novem- 
ber 6th;  1903,  Mr.  Dowie  in  one  of  his  inflated  moments  said: 
"If  I  had  been  as  long  in  New  York  as  I  have  been  in  Chicago 
I  would  have  settled  the  other  day  the  question  as  to  who 
should  be  mayor.  'How?'  I  will  tell  you.  By  securing 
thirty  or  forty  thousand  votes  of  godly  persons  all  of  whom 
would  have  voted  for  the  best  men,  irrespective  of  party. 
.  .  .  That  is  called  the  balance  of  power;  and  I  am  a  great 
man  for  considering  the  balance  of  power.  If  I  had  been 
working  here  for  a  number  of  years  I  would  have  had  these 
thirtj'  thousand  men  and  that  would  have  settled  the  ques- 
tion." 

It  is  doubtful  whether  Mr.  Dowie  could  ever  have  delivered 
to  a  party  boss  in  the  city  of  Chicago  more  than  two  thousand 

*If  there  ever  was  a  man  who  has  made  every  individual  of  his  follow- 
ing count  somewhere  it  is  Mr.  Dowie.  The  organization  has  been  over- 
officered  and  a  vast  proportion  of  its  financial  outlay  has  been  to  keep  up 
fine  appearances,  such  as,  robed  choir,  guards,  robed  officers,  enormous 
expense  in  photograph  plates,  etc. 

+  Consult  the  files  of  any  of  the  New  York  papers,  November,  1903, 
especially  with  regard  to  the  disclosures  about  his  own  father. 


62 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


votes.  In  this  same  speech  he  says:  "I  am  very  glad  to  know 
that  over  all  the  world  Zion  City  is  being  admired.  Today  I 
was  very  much  amused  in  reading  an  incident  in  a  letter  from 
Sydney,  Australia.  The  Premier  of  West  Australia,  address- 
ing his  colleagues,  as  they  were  discussing  the  question  of  the 
new  capitol  for  Australia,  said:  "Why  don't  you  get 
down  to  business?  I  feel  inclined  to  propose  that  you  let  the 
contract  for  building  this  capitol  and  selecting  the  site  to  Mr. 
Dowie.    He  will  do  it  on  time.'  " 

These  are  sufficient  to  show  when  taken  along  with  what 
any  one  can  see  who  attends  a  service  conducted  by  Mr. 
Dowie,  that  conceit  and  braggadocio  are  deeply  rooted  in  him, 
appearing  under  a  modesty  which  affects  to  attribute  all  his 
achievements  to  God. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


CHARACTERIZATION.  CONTINUED. 

It  seems  that  not  man}'  who  are  in  a  position  to  give  expert 
testimony  have  made  a  stud}'  of  Mr.  Dowie.  He  is  generall_v 
held  b}-  the  medical  profession  to  be  a  superior  degenerate. 

The  New  York  World,  October  22.  1903,  published  what 
purported  to  be  the  opinion  of  Dr.  E.  C.  Spitzka,  as  follows: 

"Cases  resembling  that  of  the  gentleman  who  is  now  holding  forth  at 
Madison  Square  Garden  are  so  common  and  frequent  that  I  do  not  pay 
any  attention  to  them,"  said  Dr.  Spitzka.  "But  John  Alexander  Dowie's 
case  is  peculiar;  it  has  features  far  more  attractive  to  me  than  the 
ordinary.  .  .  . 

"The  man  shows  the  natural  result  of  his  career.  He  has  played  a  false 
part  so  long  before  the  world,  and  to  play  that  part  he  has  been  compelled 
to  present  the  true  relations  to  himself,  so  constantly,  that  the  false  role  has 
become  second  nature,  and  now  when  old  age  is  coming  upon  him  with 
all  its  weakening  influences  it  causes  a  far  greater  breakdown  than  old 
age  does  in  the  man  who  leads  an  upright  and  honest  life. 

"You  cannot  say  that  a  man  of  his  kind  is  originally  and  necessarily  a 
lunatic,  but  he  now  falls  within  that  definition,  which  he  might  iiave 
avoided  if  he  had  lived  a  natural  life.  He  has  been  so  raised  by  his  suc- 
cess into  a  confidence  in  his  personal  magnetism  that  now,  when  this  per- 
sonal magnetism  is  enfeebled  bv  old  age,  he  cannot  reconcile  himself  to 
recognize  his  failure,  and  it  leads  to  the  ridiculous  demonstration  which 
he  is  now  making  upon  the  stage  at  the  Garden. 

"Formerly  he  was  able  to  control  his  actions  diplomatically,  whereas, 
with  old  age,  he  has  lost  that  power  and,  like  a  fool,  he  babbles  what  he 
really  thinks.  All  the  egotism  of  old  age  comes  out  in  its  most  disgust- 
ing form  in  such  cases. 

"If  a  delusion  is  to  be  called  a  false  and  ridiculous  belief,  out  of  which 
a  man  cannot  be  persuaded,  Dowie  falls  under  the  definition  of  having 
delusional  insanity. 

"I  think  that  Dr.  Buckley  is  in  the  main  right  when  he  charges  that 
Dowie  is  a  lunatic,  with  megalomania,  paranoia  and  other  twists  of  the 
mind,  although  I  tail  to  find  the  ingenious  fantasies  in  Dowie's  schemes 
which  many  paranoiacs  show.  .  .  . 


64 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


"Some  people  may  say  that  my  diagnosis  does  not  take  into  considera- 
tion that  business  ability  shown  by  Dowie  and  his  evident  ability  to  col- 
lect tithes  and  to  manage  property  to  remunerative  advantage.  There  are 
many  peculiar  and  apparently  inconsistent  combinations  in  the  character 
of  certain  insane  persons.  There  are  project-making  lunatics  who  unite 
the  most  effective  talents  of  the  worst  and  most  successful  frauds  with  the 
hopeless  delusions  of  a  disordered  mind,  and  persons  of  this  type  have 
played  a  part  in  the  world's  history  which  is  really  remarkable  and 
seldom  recognized. 

"it  was  one  of  these  persons  who  succeeded  in  precipitating  all  Europe 
upon  Asian  territory— I  mean  Peter  the  Hermit,  it  was  another,  that  Jan 
of  Leyden,  who  also  founded  a  'New  Zion'  in  Munster.  At  first  he  suc- 
ceeded in  creating  a  sentiment  for  him  in  the  country,  but  his  conceit  be- 
came so  over-dominant  that  he  lost  control  of  himself  and  yielded  to  his 
natural  instincts.  He  established  polygamy  and  the  whole  new  founda- 
tion went  down  in  wreck  and  ruin.  This  'restorer'  also  looked  after  the 
tithes  and  insisted  that  his  people  give  to  him  one-tenth  of  their  possessions. 

"It  is  in  this  light  that  I  regard  the  union  of  financial  genius  with 
imbecility  in  this  so-called  'Dr.'  Dowie." 

A  noted  psychologist  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  Mr. 
Dowie  holds  his  influence  over  his  audiences  by  employing 
certain  forms  of  suggestion  in  a  masterly  way,  namely,  the 
form  of  direct  command,  and  blunt,  over-bearing  assertion. 
"His  impudence  would  be  absurd  but  for  the  fact  that  it  accom- 
plished its  purpose.  .  .  .  On  the  whole,  I  incline  to  the 
belief  that  a  part  of  his  power  comes  from  an  element  of 
genuine  belief  in  himself  and  his  work;  that  is  he  does  not 
seem  to  be  a  mere  pretender.  The  ethical  tone  of  his  preach- 
ing strikes  me  as  sincere.  Of  course  I  regard  him  as  crafty, 
as  consciously  planning  many  things  for  effect,  yet  it 
seems  to  me  possible  that  he  is  sufficiently  near  to  insanity  to 
believe  the  claims  he  makes  as  to  his  Apostolate,  etc.  The 
possible  extent  of  self-deception,  who  can  measure?"* 

Many  things  about  Mr.  Dowie  are  in  accord  with  the  char- 
acter and  career  of  Joseph  Smith.  Not  that  he  has  ever  been  as 
imaginative  or  visionary,  but  to  somewhat  the  same  char- 
acteristics as  did  Joseph,  does  he  owe  his  influence  upon  his 
people. 

*  Personal  letter  from  Prof.  Geo.  A.  Coe. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


65 


Riley,  in  "The  Founder  of  Mormonism,"  p.  233,  quotes  the 
American  Journal  of  Phrenology,  November,  i866,  p.  146, 
as  follows:  "Joseph  like  Swedenborg  was  a  sensitive  nature. 
It  is  more  logical  to  believe  him  to  have  been  an  earnest 
religious  leader  than  to  have  been  a  non-believer  in  his  own 
mission.  Men  never  accomplish  much  when  they  have  not 
unbounded  faith  in  themselves  and  their  calling  .  .  .  The 
fact  that  the  astute  mind  of  Brigham  Young  and  those  of  many 
other  remarkable  and  talented  men  were  fascinated  by  Joseph 
is  suggestive  .  .  .  There  was  an  infinite  aim  and  purpose 
about  the  man,  which  was  certainly  very  taking." 

This  is  true  of  Mr.  Dowie  with  the  possible  addition  that 
his  commercial  schemes  show  a  combining  of  the  fever  of 
modern  times  to  get  rich  and  have  monetary  power,  with  "an 
infinite  aim  and  purpose."  However  I  have  not  been  able  to 
find  any  trace  whatever  of  epilepsy  in  Mr.  Dowie  and  am 
assured  upon  the  statement  of  Mrs.  Uowie  that  it  cannot  be 
shown  that  his  ideas  and  vagaries  are  to  be  thus  accounted 
for,  as  it  is  not  present  in  the  preceding  generations. 

In  his  pamphlet  "Dowie  Analyzed  and  Classified"  Dr.  J. 
M.  Buckley,  who  has  given  considerable  attention  to  such 
characters  as  Mr.  Dowie,  says:  "His  consuming  ambition, 
insatiable  love  of  power,  intense  self-consciousness,  grasp 
on  money  and  property,  vigorous  suppression  of  individuality, 
commercialism;  luxurious  way  of  living,  and  wholesale 
entrance  of  his  Zion  into  real  estate  speculation  and  manufac- 
turing, contrast  strangely  with  John  the  Baptist  and  with 
Elijah  the  Prophet.  Reason  must  first  be  paralyzed,  faith 
drugged,  and  this  done  it  would  still  seem  too  large  and 
abnormal  a  conception  for  open-mouthed  credulity  to  believe 
that  the  Christ  of  the  New  Testament  should  choose  the 
evolver  and  center  of  such  a  flamboyant  mixture  of  flesh  and 
spirit  to  be  the  Restorer  and  his  special  fore-runner.  If  Dowie 
believes  it,  he  is  in  the  moonlit  borderland  of  insanity  where 
large  movements  of  limited  duration  have  sometimes 
originated.    If  he  believes  it  not  he  is  another  imposter. 


66 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


"The  probabk  i;t'nesis  of  the  Dowie  of  todav  is  this:  Be- 
ginning' his  iniMic  career  with  the  sincerit}'  and  simplicity  of 
the  ordinary  Christian,  he  passed  into  fanaticism,  made  claims 
which  he  believed,  but  confronted  with  failures,  he  sophis- 
ticated his  conscience  and  reason  to  explain  them.  Lured  by 
ambition,  self-confidence,  and  love  of  power  into  great  enter- 
prises which  made  large  sums  of  money  necessary  to  him,  he 
was  obliged  to  manipulate  men,  and  his  shrewdness  became 
cunning.  Intoxicated  by  increasing  prosperity,  he  has  come, 
without  Divine  authority,  to  believe  himself  God's  special 
messenger.  In  that  character  he  judges,  denounces,  condemns 
all  who  do  not  accept  him,  and  rules  his  followers  with  a  rod 
of  iron." 

This  quotation  gives  the  interpretation  of  the  personality  of 
Mr.  Dowie,  which  all  the  facts  seem  to  warrant.  Mr.  Dowie 
is  insane  with  the  idea  of  his  own  greatness.  He  is  reported 
to  have  said  that  of  the  three  great  leaders  of  this  generation, 
Lord  Salisbury  in  Politics,  J.  P.  Morgan  in  Finance,  and  John 
Alexander  Dowie  in  Religion,  John  Alexander  Dowie  is 
greatest  of  all,  as  religion  is  greater  than  politics  or  finance: 
and  since  he  is  also  a  master  of  these  two.  His  many  utter- 
ances which  indicate  that  he  is  possessed  of  the  delusions  that 
politicians  are  afraid  of  him  and  the  votes  he  can  control,  that 
he  can,  to  use  his  own  terminology',  "spank"  this  or  that  per- 
son in  authority,  indicate  partial  insanity.  To  hear  him 
present  his  claims  of  being  the  Messenger  of  the  Covenant, 
Elijah  the  Restorer,  and  that  Prophet  of  whom  Moses  spake, 
would  awaken  a  sense  of  the.  ludicrous  in  any  one  whose 
critical  faculty  was  at  all  awake.  "The  declaration  that  we 
are  that  person  (The  Messenger,  Elijah,  and  the  Prophet)  is 
either  what  those  peculiar  theologians  .  ,  .  the  Chicago  Press 
declare  it  to  be,  a  Great  Blasphemy,  or  it  is  a  Tremendous 
Fact  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  whole  world.  ,We  have 
not  assumed  it;  it  has  been  imposed  upon  us  by  God  himself. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


67 


Had  we  been  deceived  in  this  matter  God  would  have  deceived 
us.    That  is  an  impossibility."* 

It  would  seem  that  the  one  who  was  guiltj-  of  such  naivete 
as  this  were  not  amenable  to  reason.  Notice  his  logic:  "We 
have  this  conviction  that  we  are  that  person.  If  we  are 
deceived  God  is  a  deceiver.  This  is  absurd;  God  cannot 
deceive.    We  are  that  person  (Elijah,  etc.)" 

Mr.  Dowie  evidently  has  the  more  or  less  constant  con- 
sciousness of  himself  as  a  God-appointed  Restorer  and 
Apostle.  This  is  insanity,  or  to  speak  in  terms  more  definite, 
it  is  a  disease  of  his  personality,  a  delusion  in  his  conscious- 
ness. 

Ribot  says:t  "There  are  cases  of  false  personality  reducible 
to  a  fixed  idea,  to  a  dominant  idea,  toward  which  a  whole 
group  of  concordant  ideas  converges,  all  others  being  elimi- 
nated, practical!}^  annihilated.  Such  are  those  who  believe 
themselves  God,  Pope,  or  Emperor,  and  speak  and  act  accord- 
innly."  In  another  place,!  Ribot  says:  "At  times  the  trans- 
formation approaches  to  complete  metamorphosis;  and  then 
the  subject  entirely  overwhelmed  by  the  feeling  of  his  match- 
less power,  proclaims  himself  Pope,  Emperor,  God.  'The 
patient'  as  Griesinger  justly  observes, §  'feeling  proud,  bold 
and  enlivened,  discovering  in  himself  unwonted  freedom  in  his 
decisions,  and  feeling  the  superabundance  of  his  thoughts,  is 
led  naturalh'  to  have  ideas  of  grandeur,  rank,  riches  or  great 
moral  or  intellectual  power,  such  as  only  the  fullest  liberty  of 
thought  and  volition  can  exhibit  in  like  degree.  This  exag- 
gerated idea  of  force  and  of  freedom  must  nevertheless  have  a 
motive;  there  must  be  in  the  ego  something  that  corresponds 

*  The  naivete  of  this  statement  does  not  obscure  the  psychological, 
perhaps  pathological  experience  underlying  it.  It  came  to  him  as  an  over- 
whelming conviction.  It  is  in  line  with  what  he  believes  Scripture 
teaches  God  has  foretold  will  be.    It  is  God. 

t  Th.  Ribot:    "The  Diseases  of  the  Personality,"  p.  81. 

tOp.  clt.,  p.  56. 

§  Traites  des  Malades  Mentales,  p.  265. 


68 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


to  it;  the  ego  must  have  momentarily  become  different;  and 
the  patient  knows  no  other  way  of  expressing  this  change 
than  by  proclaiming  himself  Napoleon,  Messiah  or  some  other 
exalted  personage.'  "  This  transformation  of  character  may 
be  partial  or  complete;  momentary  or  permanent. 

Ribot  says  further:*  "The  study  of  the  intellectual  con- 
ditions of  personality  has  in  store  for  us  a  large  number  of 
examples  of  this  kind,  (as  hypnotized  subjects  upon  whom  a 
role  or  personage  is  imposed)  but  the  cases  that  we  already 
know  are  sufficient  to  justify  our  asking  what  they  teach.  At 
first  sight,  these  cases  are  quite  simple  as  regards  mechanics 
of  formation.  The  first  origin  is  obscure:  Why  is  that  par- 
ticular idea  produced  and  not  some  other?  Usually  we  know 
nothing  of  this;  but  the  morbid  conception,  once  born,  grows 
and  increases  until  its  climax  is  reached  by  the  simple 
automatism  of  association." 

So  Mr.  Dowie  may  be  said  to  have  formed  the  habit  of  re- 
regarding  himself  as  a  great  and  divinely  appointed  Prophet 
or  Apostle,  with  all  that  those  terms  connote  according  to  his 
understanding  of  Scripture.  September  i8,  1904,  he  sanctified 
himself  as  Apostle  in  the  presence  of  eight  thousand  of  his 
followers,  mitred  and  clad  in  gorgeous  raiment,  with  these 
words  upon  his  lips:  "I  stand  here  today  as  the  High  Priest 
on  earth  and  the  First  Apostle  of  The  Christian  Catholic  and 
Apostolic  Church  in  Zion  of  that  High  Priest  in  Heaven. "t 
These  can  be  none  other  than  the  words  of  a  man  under  a 
mighty  delusion,  controlled  by  an  idea  which  has  become  a 
habit  ot  mind,  a  determining  factor  in  his  stream  of  conscious- 
ness. Whether  of  crystal  clear  sincerity  all  along  in  his  career, 
or  a  crafty  poser  and  conscious  deceiver  at  times,  the  man  is 
swayed  by  that  other  self,  that  abnormal  personality.     If  sin- 

"Op.cit.,  p.  81. 

tl  was  told  by  Mrs.  Dowie  that  he  was  so  busy  carrying  out  his  pro- 
gram on  the  day  set  for  the  declaration  that  he  neglected  making  the 
declaration,  but  that  it  was  printed,  as  I  have  reported  it  in  the  L.  of  H.  as 
having  been  made  by  him. 


CHARACTERIZATION 


69 


cere  and  utterly  self-deceived,  innocent  of  any  breach  of 
moral  law;  if  a  poser  and  deceiver,  to  that  extent  a  criminal 
and  morally  reprehensible  according  to  the  magnitude  and 
results  of  his  pretentions.  For  reasons  presented  this  latter 
seems  to  be  the  case  as  it  stands  with  Mr.  Dowie.  Under  the 
sway  of  a  vast  delusion,  or  series  of  delusions,  he  still  con- 
sciously worked  fraud  and  deception.  With  natural  faculties 
reinforced  by  a  great  and  all-controlling  idea,  a  moral  sense 
wilful!}'  perverted,  he  believes  a  lie  himself  and  craftih'  sup- 
ported himself  in  his  position  of  authority  and  dictatorship  by 
prostituting  every  natural  or  acquired  talent  he  has.  Every 
affection  or  confidence  reposed  in  him  was  turned  to  account 
to  foster  the  interests  of  his  Zion,  which  were  personal  in- 
terests for  he  absolutely  owned  the  entire  establishment.* 

We  would  scarcely  contend  that  Mr.  Dowie,  under  the 
dominance  of  the  idea  of  his  special  call  and  appointment  of 
God,  has  formed  a  new  ego,  as  this  second  self  is  never  able 
quite  to  entireh-  supplant  the  normal  ego  for  the  elements  of 
the  original  ego  preserve  enough  cohesion  to  enable  it  by  turns 
to  regain  the  ascendencv.  The  second  or  altered  personality 
seems  to  furnish  impulse  for  most  of  his  acts,  but  even  while 
this  is  true  the  real  personality,  John  Alexander  Dowie,  with 
its  tremendous  mass  of  sub-conscious  and  conscious  states, 
not  Elijah  or  The  First  Apostle,  is  the  force  which  gives 
color  and  meanii^  to  ever}'  concept  and  act  of  the  man.  He 
is  insanely  rational  and  rationally  insane. t 

Mr.  Dowie  is  laboring  under  the  delusion  that  he  is  the 
Restorer  of  the  Primitive  Gospel,  the  First  Apostle  in  the 
Restored  Church,  and  by  a  combination  of  the  power  this  view 
gave  him  and  his  own  craftiness  he  has  wrought  his  great  work 
of  gathering  thousands  into  a  separate  organization,  segregating 
them  and  building  a  city. 

*  A  few  personal  testimonies  have  been  given  me  of  confidence  betrayed 
for  his  own  ends. 

fTo  the  alienist  belongs  the  question  of  deciding  if  he  be  fully 
insane.    Cf.  Ribot,  op.  cit.  p.  101. 


CHAPTER  V. 


PdINT  OF  CONTACT. 

We  are  to  inquire  what  is  his  point  of  contact  with  the 
people  who  accept  his  claims  and  become  his  followers.  A 
casual  study  of  Mr.  Dowie's  work  would  lead  one  to  see  the 
emphasis  he  places  upon  "divine  healing."  Every  copy  of 
his  official  organ,  Leaves  of  Healing,  the  title  of  which  is 
significant,  has  one  or  more  published  testimonies  from  those 
who  profess  to  have  been  cured  of  some  bodily  ailment, 
disease,  or  immoral  habit,  through  the  prayers  of  Mr.  Dowie 
or  b}^  conformity  to  the  principles  which  he  expounds  as  God's 
way  of  healing.  In  Shiloh  Tabernacle  at  Zion  City,  gathered 
from  all  quarters,  are  exhibited  on  the  walls,  crutches,  canes, 
surgical  instruments,  trusses,  and  almost  every  form  of 
apparatus  used  by  the  medical  profession.  These  are  called 
trophies  and  are  said  to  have  been  put  there  bv  the  people  who 
once  thought  they  needed  them  but  who  no  longer  have  use  for 
them.  Then  too,  divine  healing  meetings  are  a  regular  occur- 
ence in  Zion  City,  and  at  every  place  where  a  Zion  representa- 
tive is  endeavoing  to  reach  the  public  by  evangelistic  work. 
In  a  divine  healing  meeting  which  I  attended  at  Zion  City  a 
large  portion  of  the  audience  were  clearly  seen  to  be  afflicted 
with  diseases,  or  were  crippled  and  disabled.  Several  in" 
valids  in  wheel  chairs  were  brought  into  the  room. 

In  his  interview  at  Havana,  Cuba,*  (to  which  reference  has 
been  made),  Mr.  Dowie  said:  "If  you  were  in  my  Tabernacle 
in  Zion  City  any  Sunday  afternoon,  there  would  be  from  six 
to  seven  thousand  people  there,  and  if  I  were  to  say,  'everj'- 
one  of  you  now  present  who  has  been  healed  in  body,  through 
faith  in  Jesus,  stand,'  I   think  almost  five  thousand  would 

*L.  ot  H.,  March  4,  1905. 


POINT  OF  CONTACT 


71 


stand.  Nearly  everyone  in  the  whole  congreg^ation  has  been 
healed  at  one  time  or  another." 

Evidence  could  be  multiplied  to  show  that  divine  healing  is 
Mr.  Dowie's  chief  point  of  contact  with  the  class  of  people  he 
has  won  as  followers. 

It  is  clear  then  that  all  who  become  Mr.  Dowie's  followers 
believe  in  divine  healing  apart  from  any  agency  other  than 
the  pra3'er  of  faith.  Indeed  the  entire  gospel  which  Mr. 
Dowie  professes  to  preach  is  "salvation,  healing  and  holy  liv- 
ing," and  it  is  the  divine  healing  which  arrests  attention  and 
awakens  interest  in  Zion  and  its  leader.  This  point  of  contact 
is  possible  for  several  reasons:  (i)  There  area  large  number 
of  sick  people  in  the  world  who  are  willing  to  resort  to  any 
device  to  be  healed.  This  scarcely  needs  proof. (2)  A 
large  number  of  people  in  the  churches  are  already  imbued 
with  a  belief  in  faith  or  divine  healing.  In  a  letter  from  a 
man  who  publishes  tracts  upon  divine  healing  and  who  has  no 
use  whatever  for  Zion,  he  says:  "l  was  the  guest  of 
some  very  dear  friends  of  mine,  people  of  faith,  who,  like  my- 
self, stood  for  divine  healing  and  kindred  truths  before  Dr. 
Dowie  left  Australia  for  these  shores,  and  who  have  never 

*ln  The  World  To-Day.  April,  190S,  Professor  Angel!  writes: 
Viewing  the  situation  broadly,  it  appears  to  me  that  two  factors  are 
largely  responsible  for  the  rapid  expansion  of  the  Christian  Science  move- 
ment. The  first  of  these  has  to  do  with  therapeutic  phases  of  the  cult. 
The  present  day  American  is  notoriously  predisposed  to  neurasthenic  ail- 
ments of  all  kinds.  He— and  she— live  at  a  high  tension,  which  readily 
permits  the  emergence  of  hypersensitivity  of  one  kind  and  another,  and 
readily  gives  an  exaggerated  neurotic  turn  to  many  ailments  that  normally 
are  free  from  such  complications.  Here  then  is  a  very  large  contingent  of 
persons  suffering  from  impaired  physical  tone,  with  a  morbid  interest  in 
their  own  hygienic  welfare.  Now.  let  it  be  forcefully  announced  thatChris- 
tian  Science  has  a  panacea  for  disease,  and  you  will  find  thousands  of 
these  people  ready  and  willing  to  try  it.  just  as  they  would  try  patent 
medicines.  ..."  This  same  statement  would  be  equally  true  tor  Mr. 
Dowie's  Zion  movement.  Insert  "Dowie  Movement"'  where  "Christian 
Science"  occurs,  and  the  paragraph  need  not  be  "otherwise  altered,  altho 
people  of  a  different  type  of  culture  as  a  rule  are  found  in  Zion. 


72 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


wavered  in  their  loyalt.v  to  the  truth.  Four  years  ago,  to  my 
great  regret,  these  friends  joined  the  Christian  Catholic 
Church.  Knowing  how  useless  it  is  to  reason  with  people  who 
join  such  movements,  believing  them  to  be  of  God,  I  refrained 
from  talking  with  them  about  the  matter.  .  .  .  Finally  they 
went  to  Zion  Citv  to  live.  ...  I  have  other  friends  in  the 
organization." 

In  another  letter  he  says:  "l  am  not  now  and  never  have 
been  connected  with  Dr.  Dowie's  work,  altho  I  have  con- 
siderable respect  for  him,  being  well  acquainted  with  the  man 
and  his  work.  But  I  am  one  of  the  '  miserable  one-immer- 
sionists'  as  he  delights  to  call  Baptists,  .  .  .  and  cannot 
bring  myself  to  see  as  he  does  about  Triune  Immersion.  Nor 
can  I  endorse  his  teaching  concerning  universal  restoration  of 
men  and  devils,  and  I  have  to  smile  at  the  claims  he  makes. 
.  .  .  Many  of  my  friends  are  in  Zion  and  my  failure  to  toe 
the  line  with  them  has  resulted  in  financial  loss  to  my  work, 
so  far  as  they  are  concerned;  but  it  is  better  for  me  to  stay  as 
I  am,  an  indei)endent  worker  along  these  lines,  having  fellow- 
ship with  all  who  name  the  name  of  Christ  and  depart  from 
iniquity.  I  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church.  .  .  .  On 
Sundays  a  company  of  people  of  '  like  precious  faith '  as- 
semble in  a  hall  in  this  city.  .  .  .  This  company  is  com- 
posed of  members  of  nearly  every  evangelical  church  in  the 
city,  M.  E.,  Baptist,  etc.  They  meet  in  the  afternoon  so  as 
not  to  interfere  with  the  usual  church  service.  .  .  .  That 
healing  has  been  provided  for  in  the  atonement  I  no  more 
question  than  I  do  my  salvation,  and  that  is  as  real  to  me 
as  existence." 

This  letter  in  itself  shows  (a)  that  an  organized  movement 
for  publishing  and  disseminating  belief  in  divine  healing 
exactly  as  taught  by  Mr.  Dowie  exists  in  this  country  (b)  a 
considerable  number  of  people  in  Evangelical  churches  read 
this  literature  and  hold  these  beliefs  (c)  they  furnish  some 
materials  at  first  hand  for  Mr.  Dowie's  organization. 

In  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Dowieism  Exposed"  the  writer, 


POINT  OF  CONTACT 


73 


Elder  I.  D.  Bowman  of  Philadelphia,  says:  "I  believed  in 
divine  healing  from  childhood.  I  became  a  Bible  student  in 
earh'  youth,  being  taught  that  the  Bible  is  literally  true;  when 
I  read  divine  healing  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  I 
readily  accepted  it.  I  believed  that  Jesus  was  the  same  to- 
day; that  he  never  repented  of  any  gifts.  Therefore  we  had  a 
right  to  expect  healing  at  the  present  time.  For  more  than 
twenty  years  I  had  this  faith  before  I  ever  saw  or  heard  of 
a  genuine  case  of  divine  healing.  A  few  years  before  hearing  of 
Dowie,  I  met  devoted  christians  who  claimed  to  have  been  healed 
by  simple  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  Then  I  began  to  read  a  number 
of  works  on  the  subject — works  by  A.  J.  Gordon,  A.  B.  Simp- 
son, Dorothea  Trudel,  Jennie  Smith,  etc.  Later  I  was  handed 
a  copy  of  'Leaves  of  Healing,'  published  b^'  Dowie.  I 
examined  it  carefully  and  became  a  subscriber  at  once.  Much 
in  the  paper  I  accepted  as  truth  and  thought  that  Dowie  was 
doing  a  good  work." 

This  man  would  naturally  be  an  advocate  of  divine  healing 
and  his  office  would  give  him  an  excellent  opportunity  to 
spread  the  belief  before  he  had  ever  heard  of  Mr.  Dowie.  To 
what  extent  Gordon,  Simpson,  and  similar  teachers,  have 
spread  belief  in  divine  healing  we  may  not  sureh'  know,  but 
they  have  had  considerable  influence  upon  a  great  many  in 
the  churches. 

But  there  is  further  evidence  that  belief  in  divine,  or  faith 
healing,  exists  to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  churches.  A 
number  of  letters  of  inquiry  sent  to  pastors  in  regard  to  the 
prevalence  of  belief  in  divine  healing  in  their  church  and  com- 
munity have  elicited  replies  such  as  the  following: 

"None  of  the  members  of  my  church  here  believe  in  divine 
healing  as  a  therapeutical  system.  There  may  be  one  excep- 
tion. A  number  believe  that  specific  relief  from  pain  may 
and  often  does  come  in  answer  to  prayer  and  without  medical 
treatment."* 

*Onlv  one  remove  from  the  position  of  the  "average"  in  Zion,  for  not 
all  Mr.  Dowie's  followers  are  extremists  even  in  the  matter  of  divine  heal- 
ing.   1  have  found  a  number  who  would  use  home  remedies. 


74 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


"Several  who  are  now  followers  of  Dowie  were  believers  in 
divine  healing.  One  man  I  distinctly  remember  told  me  he 
could  take  any  quantity  of  strychnine  with  impunity.  (I  do 
not  think  he  claimed  to  have  done  it.)"* 

"Wehaveonly  onewho  believes  in  divine  healing,  and  makes 
it  the  summum  bonum  of  his  creed.  We  have  many  who  trust 
God  for  healing  and  these  care  for  themselves  as  best  they 
can  by  advice  and  medicine." 

■'There  is  one  avowed  believer  in  divine  healing  in  my 
congregation.  .  .  .  There  are  quite  a  number,  myself  in- 
cluded, who  are  opposed  to  a  careless  and  unnecessary^  use  of 
drugs." 

Only  two  who  believe  in  divine  healing  as  taught  by 
Simpson;  perhaps  two  or  three  more  who  believe  in  more 
properly  speaking  'faith  cure.' "  ^ 

"We  have  a  few  who  believe  in  divine  healing — a  few  who 
are  Christian  Scientists." 

We  believe  that  God  sometimes  hears  prayer  and  restores 
the  sick  who  otherwise  would  not  be  restored." 

"We  have  one  man,  and  that  a  leading  and  intelligent  mem- 
ber, who  claims  that  he  was  healed  of  a  facial  trouble  on  one 
occasion  wholly  and  solely  by  jirayer." 

'"There  is  only  one  ])erson  in  my  church  who  believes  in 
divine  healing." 

"I  had  four  members  that  went  off  to  follow  Dow-ie  and 
several  more  leaned  that  way." 

"Your  questions  trouble  me.  I  have  lost  two  good  mem- 
bers of  my  church  in  ,  in  another  three;  another  went 

to  Zion  to  be  cured,  but  failed,  so  did  not  join.  I  take  great 
interest  in  sick  people;  visit  them  much,  and  have  almost 
cured  some  peojile." 

'  Two  are  typical  Dowicites  (excluded  members.)" 
Seven  believe  that  divine  healing  is  possible." 

"Eight  per  cent  of  our  members  believe  in  divine  healing. 
.  .  .    Ten  per  cent  opposed  to  doctors,  drugs."    (In  this 

*  Doubtless  based  on  the  statement  in  Mark  16:  17,  18. 


POINT  OF  CONTACT 


church  I  learned  by  personal  conversation  with  the  pastor,  of 
a  few  people  inclined  to  become  followers  of  Mr.  Dowie 
— one  man  was  about  to  take  the  step,  when  Mr.  Dowie  sug- 
gested that  he  sell  his  business  and  invest.  At  this,  he  sus- 
pecting financial  loss  of  some  sort,  drew  back.) 

These  answers  are  to  the  question,  "Have  you  any  members 
in  your  church  and  congregation  who  believe  in  divine  healing 
in  answer  to  prayer,  apart  from  other  means?"  They  are  not 
satisfactory,  but  are  selected  at  random.  Almost  all  to  whom 
letters  were  sent  have  had  some  experience  with  such  people, 
and  the  answers  quoted  indicate  that  in  most  of  our  churches 
there  are  one  or  more  persons  who  are  of  the  sort  to  whom  Mr. 
Dowie  can  make  direct  appeal  in  the  matter  of  "Healing," 
and  in  some  cases  they  have  actually  left  the  church  to  in- 
vestigate or  join  Zion.  We  must  remember  too  that  these 
people  are  ardent  advocates  of  this  belief,  which  in  many  in- 
stances has  become  a  hobby.  "In  m\-  congregation  is  a 
woman  of  unquestionable  sincerity  and  fairly  good  'gift'  in 
testifying,  who  while  not  offensive  about  it,  never  loses  an 
opportunity  to  tell,  in  public  or  private,  of  her  healing  at  the 
hands  Mr.  Dowie.  She  has  already  partially  won  over  her 
husband,  once  a  member  of  a  Baptist  church,  and  other  mem- 
bers of  her  family.'^ 

The  answers  indicate  that  our  churches  have  been  a  more  or 
less  fertile  field  for  I\Ir.  Dowie  to  work. 

Another  line  of  evidence  is  that  found  in  the  letters  received 
from  actual  followers  of  Mr.  Dowie,  which  show  that  divine 
healing  first  arrested  their  attention  and  led  them  to  Zion. 

"When  I  slipped  and  tore  up  my  kneecap  and  the  doctors  wanted  to 
put  on  a  cast  and  if  I  walked,  go  with  crutches  and  keep  off  my  feet  three  or 
four  months,  then  it  was  that  1  found  in  reading  the  'Leaves'  and  compar- 
ing with  the  word  that  the  Lord  is  the  healer  of  his  people  when  they  re- 
pent, confess,  rest9re,  make  their  paths  straight.    .  .  .    Yes,  I  was 

*  A  group  of  persons  of  "like  precious  faith.''  that  is.  who  believe  in 
divine  healing  meet  occasionally  at  the  home  of  this  woman  and  some 
not  yet  convinced,  are  striving  as  they  say,  "to  take  God  at  his  word,  and 
believe  the  simple  promises  for  healing." 


76  JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 

healed  without  a  cast;  the  word  of  God  is  full  of  healing— read  and  ask 
God  to  open  up  the  word  more  fully  to  you.  I  will  send  you  a  little 
literature." 

"1  received  your  letter  asking  me  for  the  personal  experience  in  my  heal- 
ing, i  will  be  glad  to  do  so  for  the  glory  of  God.  in  Chicago  was  when 
i  first  learned  of  God  as  my  healer.  ...  had  been  all  my  life  a  drunk- 
ard, i  had  the  heist  doctors  that  i  could  git  to  see  if  the  Deisas  of  Drink 
could  be  taking  from  me.  .  .  .  when  i  went  toZion  home  of  hope.  .  .  . 
i  thank  God  that  he  did  take  all  Dises  of  Drink  and  sin  from  my  heart" 
...  1  will  send  you  a  Peais  to  Read  an  i  am  shore  that  if  you  will  look 
in  your  Bible  as  it  will  tell  you  to  you  will  understand  Divine  healing 
better."  (''Peais  to  Read,"  refers  to  tract  "Do  you  know  God's  Way  of 
Healing.") 

"A  simple,  childlike  faith  in  God,  1  believe  will  best  express  mother's 
attitude  toward  God  when  she  got  her  healing.  She  had  faith  in  the  Son 
of  God  whose  atonement  was  for  Spirit,  Soul  and  Body.  .  .  .  We  are 
healed  as  we  are  saved,  through  grace." 

"I  was  healed  of  deafness  and  cathar  of  my  left  ear  through  Dr.  Dowie's 
prayer.  Jesus  is  the  healer,  Satan  the  defiler.  .  .  .  Will  send  you 
'Leaves  of  Healing'  and  various  tracts." 

"We,  that  is  my  husband  and  myself,  were  members  of  the  Evangelical 
Association,  where  we  heard  of  the  work  Dr.  Dowie  was  doing  and  so 
1  went  first  to  hear  him  and  found  that  it  was  Bible  truth  that  he  was  giv- 
ing—Salvation, Healing  and  Holy  Living  are  taught  so  plainly.  How  new 
it  seemed  that  people  were  being  healed  and  still  it  is  just  what  Jesus  did 
when  on  earth.  God  did  so  much  for  our  Newton.  He  was  a  weak, 
sickly  child  from  birth  .  .  .  one  day  I  took  him  out  to  the  childrens' 
meeting  and  an  Elder  prayed  with  him  and  he  was  a  changed  chiJd  from 
that  day.  .  .  .  Christ  seemed  more  real  to  us  and  of  course  that  well  of 
water  had  to  flow.  I  could  not  keep  it  myself  but  commenced  to  tell 
others  about  it.  ...  We  finally  left  the  church  and  joined  Zion.  .  .  . 
we  firmly  believe  in  Ex.  1S:26,  Psalm  103:2  (Who  healeth  all  thy  diseases), 
and  if  he  heals  all  our  diseases  then  there  are  none  left  for  the  doctors."* 

"i  knew  nothing  of  Devine  healing  until  i  herd  Dr.  Dowie  teach  it 
then  i  searched  my  Bible  and  found  it  was  there,  if  i  had  refused  to  re- 
ceive it  because  it  was  not  admitted  into  the  Baptist  church  or  the  other 

*  Ex.  1S:26  1.  c.  reads,  "I  am  Jehovah  that  healeth  thee,"  and  the  daus 
in  Ps.  103-2  to  which  reference  is  made  is,  "Who  healeth  all  thy  diseases." 
The  perfect  naivete  which  regards  God  as  acting  directly  upon  the  human 
body,  ignoring  all  agencies  and  means  is  not  susceptible  to  scientific 
reasoning  at  all.  It  seems  almost  incredible  to  one  trained  in  the  modern 
scientific  conception  of  things  that  so  large  a  number  of  persons  are  of  such 
primitive  turn  of  mind. 


POINT  OF  CONTACT 


denominations,  1  would  probably  be  in  my  grave  today.  .  .  .  One  does 
not  have  to  believe  in  Dr.  Dowie  as  Prophet  and  Apostle  before  he  can  be 
healed—when  the  heart  is  right  we  receive  healing  through  faith  in  Jesus, 
but  it  is  a  fact  that  those  who  receive  Devine  Healing,  soon  come  into  the 
Christian  Catholic  Church,  because  the  Pastor  cannot  teach  it  and  remain 
in  his  church,  and  the  member  cannot  testify  concerning  it.  ...  iVly 
brother  I  will  ask  you  to  read  prayerfully  the  'Leaves  of  Healing'  and  the 
result  will  be  a  more  abundant  life  in  you." 

"We  were  members  of  the  Episcopal  church  before  joining  Zion  and  it 
was  while  we  still  belonged  to  that  church  that  my  dear  wife,  in  answer  to 
our  united  and  heartfelt  prayers,  was  cured  of  a  case  of  catarrh  from  which 
she  had  suffered  since  childhood,  and  which  the  leading  specialists  of 
Chicago  had  all  declared  to  be  incurable.  1  was  cured  of  rupture  by  the 
laying  on  of  hands  of  an  Elder  in  the  Church,  supplemented  by  our  own 
prayers.  My  broken  arm  was  also  a  wonderful  case  of  divine  healing." 
(This  man  has  left  Zion  tor  various  reasons  indicated  in  his  letter,  but  is  a 
firm  believer  in  divine  healing  still.)* 

"I  have  known  of  and  believed  in  divine  healing  long  before  I  heard 
of  Dr.  Dowie,  altho  not  always  practicing  it.  1  received  great  blessing  at 
one  time.  ...  I  have  friends  who  have  had  wonderful  healings  in 
answer  to  the  prayer  of  faith  who  did  not  even  know  of  Dr.  Dowie.  .  .  . 
If  you  need  healing  go  to  God  as  a  child  to  a  father  and  tell  Him  so  .  .  . 
and  if  in  earnest  you  will  be  able  to  trust  to  God  for  healing." 

A  man  who  had  been  a  Methodist  Episcopal  minister  writes  "When  my 

*  Another  case  of  ignorance  and  sophistry' is  found  in  this  letter  which 
is  from  a  man  of  some  education.  He  says:  "The  only  place  where  there 
is  mention  in  the  O.  T.  of  any  one  employing  a  doctor,  he  died.  On  the 
other  hand  there  are  many  places  where  sorcerers  are  spoken  of  in  con- 
demnation. The  Greek  for  sorcerer  is  Pharmakos  from  which  is  derived 
our  word  pharmacist,  so  druggists  are  many  times  condemned  in  the 
Bible."  It  seems  useless  to  tr\'  to  answer  an  argument  of  this  sort.  Not 
"much  learning,"  but  "little  learning  has  made  the  man  mad."  To  con- 
vey the  original  sense  of  a  word  to  the  transliterated  word  with  no  regard 
for  the  history  through  which  it  has  passed  before  and  after  its  translitera- 
tion is  stupidity  that  is  hardlv  open  to  reason;  e.  g.  the  word  electricity 
is  transliterated  from  the  Greek  elektron  which  means  amber,  a  substance 
used  in  pharmacy  and  the  arts.  It  is  possible  to  conceive  that  the  use  of 
amber  was  condemned  by  the  Greeks,  (it  wasn't)  but  that  would  in  no 
way  affect  our  attitude  toward  electricity.  Again  the  word  gymnast  comes 
from  the  Greek  word  which  means  naked.  The  naked  Greek  athlete  or 
gymnast  was  not  condemned,  but  a  perfectly  nude  athlete  today  would  in 
all  probability. 


78 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


wife,  having  been  given  up  by  the  doctors,  hearing  of  Dr.  Dowie  and 
sending  him  for  prayers,  was  healed,  we  were  in  a  position  to  lay  down 
our  Ministry  and  go  to  Chicago  and  stay  twelve  months  to  make  sure  that 
the  Christian  Catholic  Church  is  actually  Apostolic  in  itspurity  as  well  as  its 
power  and  that  there  was  no  objection  to  its  doctrine  or  government.  I  found 
the  doctrines  to  be  those  1  had  become  so  familiar  with  from  Wesley  and 
loved  so  well,  and  1  found  they  were  not  theories,  but  that  the  Gospel 
truths  were  wrought  out  into  the  lives  of  the  people  in  a  practical  way, 
causing  them  to  clean  up  their  lives  and  be  saved  and  healed." 

"1  was  not  healed  at  the  time  1  united  with  the  Church  (Zion.)  I  was 
well.  1  had  been  instantly  healed  years  before  of  Piles.  I  have  had 
several  noted  healings  since  and  have  seen  very  many  miracles  of  healing 
grace." 

"My  mother-in-law  believed  in  Zion  and  was  healed  of  numerous 
diseases,  and  my  sister-in-law  was  healed  of  a  slight  deformity.  .  .  .  We 
have  not  taken  any  medicine  for  over  two  years  and  we  haven't  had  a 
doctor  in  the  house  but  once.  .  .  .  When  1  am  sick  I  always  look  to 
God  to  deliver  me  of  all  evil  and  confess  my  sin.  If  you  have  been  read- 
ing Leaves  of  Healing  it  hadn't  ought  to  take  you  long  to  see  the  right 
path  and  come  out  from  the  wordly  people.  .  .  .  I  will  pray  for  you  that 
you  may  be  brought  to  Zion." 

These  answers  which  all  breathe  the  atmosphere  of  absolute 
sincerity  come  in  partial  reply  to  the  question.  '  'What  led  you 
to  become  a  member  of  Zion?"  All  from  whom  an  answer 
came  with  the  exception  of  one,  were  led  into  Zion  by  the  door 
of  healing,  having  their  faith  corroborated  by  other  things,  to 
be  sure,  but  this  being  the  main  issue  with  them.  The  excep- 
tion is  that  of  a  man  who,  an  unfaithful  member  of  a  Baptist 
church,  is  led  to  renewed  morality  and  christian  living  through 
a  wife's  mediation.  She  being  a  member  of  Zion  bv  belief  in 
healing  led  him  to  unite  with  the  organization  through  whose 
teaching  he  was  reclaimed. 

In  most  of  the  letters  there  is  manifested  an  eagerness  to 
testify  to  what  the  writer  has  experienced,  and  one  can  as 
he  reads,  feel  this  throb  of  earnestness  to  spread  what  has 
been  found  helpful.  The  personal  statements  that  they  will 
do  all  possible  to  lead  me  into  the  light,  and  that  the\'  are 
praying  for  me  that  I  may  find  my  way  to  Zion,  are  all  but 
pathetic. 


POINT  OF  CONTACT 


7^ 


When  we  remember,  therefore,  the  very  large  number  of 
christian  people  who  are  prone  to  sickness,  and  the  number 
in  the  churches,  of  course  considerably  smaller,  who  believe 
in  divine  healing  in  answer  to  prayer,  we  can  see  how  Mr. 
Dowie  got  a  hearing  for  the  doctrine  he  emphasizes  most. 
Again  we  see  that  every  convert  to  Mr.  Dowie,  every  one  who 
has  been  healed  or  who  is  convinced  he  has,  whether  so  ornot, 
immediately  becomes  a  willing  propagandist. 

It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  a  very  large  majority  of  Mr. 
Dowie's  followers  would  never  have  been  such  but  for  his 
emphasis  upon  this  doctrine  and  his  ability  to  heal,  or  to  per- 
suade that  he  has  healed.  And  this  vast  majority  of  his 
humbler  followers  are  sincere  and  earnest  in  their  belief.* 

*l  have  talked  with  many  who  have  left  the  C.  C.  A.  C.  because  of 
Mr.  Dowie's  tyranny,  but  not  one  who  has  renounced  belief  in  divine  heal- 
ing or  who  does  not  believe  that  in  his  earlier  work  Mr.  Dowie  did  accom- 
plish healings,  or  to  speak  more  accurately  as  representing  them,  "was 
mightly  used  of  God  in  healing  many."  They  may  think  he  is  shorn  of 
power  now,  but  his  approach  to  them  was  by  the  way  of  his  rather 
extreme  teaching  along  this  line— divine  healing. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


PROPAGANDA. 

When  ]\Ir.  Dowie  arrived  in  America  and  began  making 
converts  to  the  doctrine  of  divine  healing,  or  to  gather  those 
about  him  who  already  believed  it,*  he  inspired  them  all  with 
the  idea  of  the  necessity  of  bearing  witness  to  this  faith. 
When  his  people  were  organized  apart  from  the  churches  he 
made  provision  for  extending  belief  in  his  teachings,  and  for 
drawing  from  the  churches  any  who  might  be  in  sympathy 
with  what  was  taught  in  Zion.  He  arranged  to  have  his 
evangelists  and  teachers  with  the  Zion  literature,  go  to  almost 
every  large  center  of  population  and  preach  his  three-fold  or 
"full"  gospel  of  salvation,  healing,  and  holy  living. 

Not  many  have  come  into  Zion  as  first  hand  converts,  but 
the  vast  majority  have  come  from  the  different  religious  bodies 
already  in  existence. 

Many  of  the  officers  of  Zion  have  come  from  the  denomina- 
tions. Overseer  Speicher  was  a  Baptist  minister  and  phy- 
sician, Overseer  Excell  a  Seventh  Day  Adventist,  Overseer 
Piper  a  Baptist  business  man,  Overseer  Braisefield  a  Presb3'- 
terian  minister.  Overseer  Voliva  a  Disciple  minister,  Over- 
seer Mason  a  Baptist  missionary,  Elder  Cossum  a  Baptist 
missionary  in  China,  Elder  Gay  a  Baptist  minister  in  Ala- 
bama, the  Founder  of  the  Gay  Lectureship  at  the  Southern 
Baptist  Seminary.  And  so  it  goes  through  almost  the  entire 
list. 

Every  one  whom  I  have  personally  known  in  Zion  was  a 
Christian  before  becoming  a  member  there.     I  have  read  a 

•Chapter on  Point  of  Contact  shows  how  the  ground  was  prepared  for 
him. 


PROPAGANDA  8i 

few  testimonies  in  the  Leaves  of  Healing  of  those  who  were 
not,  but  were  converted  from  deep  sin  b\'  representatives  of 
Zion. 

A  former  member  of  Zion  says,  ''The  majority  of  those  in 
Zion  have  been  members  of  the  denominations."* 

It  has  clearly  been  the  policy  of  Mr.  Dowie  to  "evangelize" 
the  existing  churches  and  to  draw  from  them  his  followers. 
This  is  done  in  various  ways.  The  use  of  the  printed  sheet 
has  been  one  of  the  most  effective.  Testimony  after  testimony 
is  given  b}'  Zion  people  that  it  was  through  the  Leaves  of 
Healing  that  they  were  first  led  to  a  knowledge  of  Zion's 
teaching,  and  brought  to  embrace  the  "full"  gospel. t 

Members  of  Zion  are  all  anxious  to  distribute  tracts  and  to 
put  their  literature  into  the  hands  of  anyone  who  will  give  it  a 
reading.  They  are  of  the  class,  and  their  beliefs  are  such, 
that  this  form  of  propagandism  is  natural  to  them.  This  in- 
stinctive willingness  has  been  reinforced  by  Mr.  Dowie,  who 
has  urged  all  members  to  pay  the  price  of  subscriptions  for 
the  Leaves  and  other  publications,  for  some  one  outside  of 
Zion,  almost  always  a  christian  in  one  of  the  churches  who 

*  Overseer  BRAISEFIELD— "Now  one  more  question  1  desire  to  ask. 

'•It  is  proper  in  our  testifying  and  witnessing  to  give  due  honor  to  him 
who  is  not  yet  present.  God  has  honored  the  ministr>'  of  the  First 
Apostle. 

"it  will  be  interesting  to  know  how  many  of  you  were  saved  through  his 
personal  ministry,  through  hearing  his  voice,  when  he  proclaimed  the 
Gospel  in  this  and  other  lands,  through  the  written  Word  as  it  has  gone 
forth  in  the  pages  of  Leaves  ot  Healing,  and  through  the  ministry  of  those 
whom  he  has  trained  as  officers  in  Zion.  Such  persons  may  stand.  [A 
large  number  in  the  audience  rose.] 

"How  many  were  Christians  before  they  heard  of  Zion?  [About  three- 
fourths  of  the  audience  rose.] 

"That  is  a  verv'  suggestive  sight. 

"Deacon  Sloan  suggests  that  you  were  backsliders."  — L.  of  H.,  Jan. 
7.  1905. 

t  Testimonials  quoted;  also  L.  of  H.  almost  any  copy. 


82 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


miffht  thus  be  reached  and  brought  into  their  fellowship.'^'  On 
the  closing  pages  of  L.  of  H.,  September  lo,  1904,  this  sug- 
gestion occurs  in  bold  type.  "We  are  expecting  to  see  a 
heart}- endorsement  of  the  teachings  in  this  issue,  expressed  by 
every  reader  sending  in  one  or  more  subscriptions,  or  at  least 
a  remittance  for  one  cop\-  to  be  sent  to  some  one  in  need." 
This  particular  issue  contains  a  full  report  of  the  conferences 
organizing  the  C.  C.  A.  C.  in  Zion,  an  explanation  and 
historical  sketch  of  Zion. 

Some  one  kindlv  sent  me  the  Leaves  for  a  year  paying  the 
subscription  price,  when  they  learned  that  I  was  interested  in 
Zion,  and  large  numbers  of  tracts  have  also  been  sent  to  me 
by  those  interested  in  spreading  Zion  views. 

Mr.  Dowie  has  had  a  double  purpose  in  printing  the  testi- 
monies of  the  different  ones  who  have  been  healed  and  helped 
by  Zion.  It  adds  to  the  general  momentum  of  the  movement, 
furnishing  materials  of  the  best  sort  for  promoting  his  ends; 
but  it  also  leads  the  person  whose  experience  is  thus  printed, 
to  have  a  special  interest  in  the  matter  of  propagating  Zion 
truth.  Almost  invariably  upon  writing  to,  or  becoming  acquaint- 
ed with,  a  member  of  Zion  whose  testimony  has  been  printed, 
they  have  sent  me  a  marked  copy  of  that  particular  paper. 
Every  wise  Sunday  school  superintendent  understands  this 
l)rinciple  practically,  and  enlists  the  interest  of  the  children 
by  some  method  of  making  them  more  or  less  prominent  in  the 
work.  This  has  been  one  of  his  practical  ways  of  "group- 
ing" his  people  around  the  idea  of  divine  healing,  himself  the 

*The  following  report  shows  something  ot  the  extent  of  this  kind  of 
work. 

Zion  literature  sent  out  from  a  free  distribution  fund  provided  byZion's 
guests  and  the  friends  of  Zion:  Report  for  three  weeks  ending  October 
29,  1904:  30.200  rolls  to  business  men  in  the  United  States;  4,400  rolls  to 
Germanv;  3,723  rolls  to  the  hotels  of  the  world;  999  rolls  to  the  peerage  of 
Europe;  200  rolls  to  businessmen  in  England;  1,12S  rolls  to  miscellaneous 
countries;  number  of  rolls  for  three  weeks,  40,647;  number  of  rolls  reported 
to  October  29,  1904,  3,450,612. 


PROPAGANDA 


83 


ajjent  of  the  healing.  What  a  fascination  the  story  of  one- 
self has  when  one  sees  it  in  print !  Most  honest  men  will  con- 
fess it,  and  there  is  a  very  strong  desire  to  have  as  many  as 
possible  see  and  read.  And  so  the  storv  of  Zion's  healings 
are  spread. 

These  people  also  bear  their  testimony  verbally  and  lose  no 
opportunity  to  urge  others  to  faith  in  a  complete  gospel  like 
their  own.  The  burden  of  their  message  is,  "the  churches  do 
not  teach  a  full  gospel;  they  stop  with  salvation,  which  we 
believe  and  teach  with  all  our  strength,  but  we  teach  healing 
and  holy  living  also  as  a  part  of  the  gospel."* 

In  thus  teaching  their  three-fold  gospel  they  often  put  a  dis- 
proportionate emphasis  upon  healing,  but  this  has  been  their 
way  of  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  churches  give  it 
practically  no  place  in  their  thinking  and  teaching.  They 
emphasize  holy  living  also  far  more  than  the  churches  do;  at 
least  under  this  form  of  speech  and  from  their  legalistic 
standpoint.  They  have  enforced  the  doctrine  too  in  their  dis- 
cipline, and  in  the  earlier  days  of  Zion  one  element  of  strength 
was  the  noble  desire  of  many  of  the  people  to  part  company 
with  their  sins  and  visible  vices.  Zion  and  Zion  city  have 
been  fully  exploited  as  places  of  clean  living,  in  which  the 
absence  of  saloons,  brothels,  theatres,  card  parties,  dancing, 
etc.,  makes  possible  a  life  free  from  much  of  the  wordly 
temptations  with  which  one  is  ordinarily  surrounded.  This 
has  made  it  an  attractive  place  for  the  extremists  of  the 

*  In  the  L.  of  H.,  December,  190S.  p.  1,  the  words  in  Mk.  16:17,  18  are 
partially  quoted:  "These  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe;  in  my  name 
shall  they  cast  out  devils;  .  .  .  they  shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick  and 
they  shall  recover."  The  comment  is  made,  "The  denominational 
churches  have  ceased  to  claim  either  of  these  glorious  promises  of  Christ." 
Nothing  is  said  about  the  clauses  not  quoted  which  lie  between  these  two; 
"They  shall  speak  with  tongues,  they  shall  take  up  serpents;  and  if  they 
shall  drink  any  deadly  thing  it  shall  not  hurt  them,"  for  even  Zion  has 
not  been  able  to  claim  much  success  along  these  lines.  It  should  be  re- 
marked that  both  these  verses  occur  in  a  passage  about  whose  authenticity 
there  is  almost  universal  doubt  among  scholars. 


84 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


"unwordly"  type,  and  that  this  has  been  an  element  of  strength 
no  one  can  doubt.* 

A  prominent  official  in  Zion  told  me,  after  having  expressed 
his  grave  fears  about  the  outcome  of  certain  tendencies  in 
Zion,  '  These  people  are  a  godly  people — they  have  a  passion 
for  righteousness."  Considerably  later  he  writes  as  follows: 
"As  to  the  kind  of  people  who  live  in  this  city,  I  would  say 
the}'  are  a  righteous  people.  They  have  borne  with  Christian 
patience  much  tyranny  and  injustice.  Their  patience  and 
loyalty,  I  believe,  have  never  been  equalled.  .  .  .  They  are 
far  better  in  my  judgment,  than  those  who  have  ruled  over 
them.  In  a  word  there  is  no  discount  on  this  people."  The 
high  moral  tone  of  the  teaching  of  Zion,  in  spite  of  a  certain 
amount  of  legalistic  self-righteousness,  and  the  suppression 
of  spontaneity,  with  all  the  injury  to  character  which  that  en- 
tails, has  been  of  very  great  help  in  the  spread  of  Zion's  in- 
fluence among  many  well-meaning  and  sincere  people  in 
the  churches.  It  has  helped  the  propaganda  to  be  able  to 
cite  the  evils  tolerated  in  the  churches,  and  then  call  atten- 
tion to  an  organization  and  city  where  these  are  not  tolerated. 

To  the  credit  of  Mr.  Dowie,  be  it  said,  that  he  has  insisted 
upon  clean  living  at  all  times  and  in  his  teaching  has  often 
made  healing  depend  upon  repentance,  which  really  means  a 
forsaking  of  sinful  habits  and  practices,  and  restitution.  He 
has  also  required  titheing  as  a  condition  of  God's  continued 
blessing,  and  upon  people  ready  to  be  convinced  by  specious 
Scripture  argument,  this  has  wonderfully  strengthened  his 
hold,  incidentally  increasing  his  income. 

This  leads  to  an  examination  of  the.general  method  of  attack 
upon  the  churches  by  which  the  susceptible  members  have 
been  brought  to  forsake  their  former  allegiance  and  unite  with 
Zion. 

First:  All  possible  has  been  done  to  show  that  the  teaching 
of  the  churches  is  insufficient  and  partial,  warped  and  mis- 

*  Cf.  James'  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience,  Chapter.  "Saintli- 
ness." 


PROPAGANDA 


85 


leadino-,  and  their  practices  in  many  instances  unscriptural  or 
sinful. 

Second:  It  has  been  attempted  to  show  that  the  Zion 
movement  is  a  part  of  the  Scriptural  program  of  "  the  restora- 
tion of  all  things,"  and  that  Zion  and  its  teaching  are  a 
restored  primitive  organization  of  the  church,  its  officers  and 
its  message.  Zion  is  the  most  effective  agent  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God  and  the  full  gospel,  the  preaching  and  practicing  of 
which  bring  answer  to  the  prayer,  "Thy  Kingdom  come." 

This  of  course  is  not  a  formal  program  which  Mr.  Dowie 
has  devised  and  which  his  officers  have  agreed  upon;  but  is  an 
analysis  of  the  actual  way  the  Zion  movement,  from  before  the 
time  of  its  formal  organization  in  1896,  has  related  itself  to 
the  churches.  In  his  interview  at  Havana,  Cuba,  Mr.  Dow^ie 
says,*  "As  I  went  on  in  life,  I  saw  that  the  mission  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  was  being  misconceived,  and  that  the 
churches  were  imagining  that  the  people  could  be  blessed  and 
elevated  by  wearisome  services  and  wearisome  repetitions  of 
prayers, t  or  elevated  to  God  by  taking  women  that  sang  tor 
the  Devil  on  Saturday  night  and  having  them  sing  for  God 
on  Sunday.  ...  It  did  not  seem  to  me  that  the  churches 
were  separate  enough  from  the  world,  and  also  it  didn't  seem 
to  me  as  if  they  were  in  close  enough  touch  with  God  to  be  of 
any  help  to  the  world.  .  .  .  Now  I  saw  that  the  church  did 
not  get  in  touch  with  them  ( the  needy  people)  and  sympathize 
with  them  in  their  toil  and  do  something  to  improve  their  con- 
dition. And  I  used  to  think  over  what  could  be  done.  They 
gave  me  what  was  considered  a  very  fine  ecclesiastical  position 
after  I  returned  from  Scotland  to  Australia.  .  .  .  But  I  was 
verj- uncomfortable  in  it  and  gave  up  my  church.  .  .  .  The 
world  was  getting  more  wicked,  and  the  people  were  getting 

*L.  of  H.  March  4,  190S,  previously  cited. 

1 1  myself  sat  for  tour  hours  in  the  Tabernacle  at  Zion  citv  listening  to 
the  harangue  of  Mr.  Dowie  upon  a  multitude  of  subjects,  chiefly  "secret- 
ism,"  then  left  for  ver\-  weariness,  a  friend  of  mine  remaining  another 
hour  until  the  service  closed. 


86 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


more  drunken  and  dissipated,  and  the  working  classes  were 
getting  farther  awaj'  from  God.  What  was  to  be  done  and 
what  were  they  (the  churches)  doing?  I  must  get  to  the 
people  !  So  I  threw  off  my  gown  and  descended  from  my  pul- 
pit, and,  having  a  few  thousand  dollars,  I  rented  a  big  theatre 
in  Sydney,  and  spoke  to  immense  numbers  of  people.  .  .  . 
And  at  last  after  1  went  on  for.  many  years  in  my  work  of 
salvation,  healing  and  cleansing  through  faith  in  Jesus,  I 
found  that  the  only  way  was  to  organize  my  spiritual  children 
into  a  Catholic  church." 

The  attack  began,  at  least  in  this  country,  upon  the  ministry 
who  were  at  first  friendly  toward  Mr.  Dowie  and  who  in  some 
cases  invited  him  to  speak  in  their  churches.*  The}'  soon 
began  to  lose  faith  in  him  however,  as  pretentious  and  un- 
balanced as  an  exegete,  and  a  fanatic  upon  the  question  of 
divine  healing.  As  early  as  January,  1889,  we  find  Mr.  Dowie 
at  variance  with  the  pastors  of  California.  On  January  27, 
1899,  in  the  First  Baptist  church  of  Oakland,  California,  Mr. 
Dowie  makes  reply  to  what  he  terms  an  attack  upon  him  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  E.  C.  Chapman  and  the  Oakland  pastor's  union. 
Mr.  Dowie  has  published  this  repl}',  in  which  it  is  clearly  seen 
that  the  issue  upon  which  he  joined  with  the  ministers  and 
churches  was  divine  healing. t  At  the  beginning  of  this  reply 
Mr.  Dowie  says:  "We  will  take  the  whole  matter  to  Him  in 
l^rayer  that  we  may  be  in  such  a  beautiful  spirit  of  communion 
and  expectancy,  that  we  shall  realize  his  presence  here  today. 
.  .  .  Let  us  expect  to  get  an  answer — a  direct  answer  to  a 
direct  prayer.  .  .  .  Pray  with  me  and  for  me  and  for  the 
multitudes  of  God's  dear  children  who  are  sitting  in  the  dark- 
ness of  disease  and  sickness,  and  in  the  shadow  of  death;  who 
are  groaning  on  beds  of  pain,  and  who  know  not  that  Christ's 
seamless  dress  is  by  their  beds  of  pain." 

*  Mr.  Dowie  has  never  seemed  to  appreciate  at  ail  the  fact  that  the 
churches  gave  him  the  use  of  their  buildings,  in  many  cases  receiving, 
abuse  and  misrepresentations  instead  of  gratitude. 

+  Pamphlet  "Divine  Healing  Vindicated." 


PROPAGANDA 


87 


His  prayer  opens  his  controversy, for  by  implication  these 
"do  not  know,"  because  their  pastors  have  never  told  them. 
A  reply,  section  by  section,  to  the  paper  of  Dr.  Chapman, 
follows  the  prayer. 

We  can  only  feather  what  the  paper  contained,  which  was 
read  before  the  pastor's  union  in  criticism  of  Mr.  Dowie,  by 
the  quotations  from  it  that  Mr.  Dowie  makes.  He  calls  it 
the  Pastor's  Manifesto.  The  first  section  really  defines  divine 
healing  as  Mr.  Dowie  holds  it  and  is  as  follows:  "The  dis- 
tinguishing features  of  what  is  known  as  the  doctrine  of  divine 
healing  may  be  briefly  stated:  First,  that  all  bodily  ailment  is 
the  work  of  the  Devil.  The  second  definition  is  that  Christ 
came  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  Devil.  Therefore  it  is  the 
privilege  of  all  who  believe  in  him  to  enjoy  perfect  and  per- 
petual bodily  health." 

Mr.  Dowie  says,  "We  accept  it.  We  believe  it  is  the 
privilege  of  all  who  live  in  Christ,  that  Christ  shall  live  in 
them;  that  the  Holy  Spirit  shall  quicken  our  mortal  flesh." 
He  then  quotes  Romans  8:11:  "if  the  Spirit  of  Him  that 
raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead  dwelleth  in  you.  He  that  raised 
up  Christ  from  the  dead  shall  also  quicken  your  mortal  bodies 
through  His  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you,"  and  says,  "The 
Holy  Spirit  of  God  is  the  Spirit  of  life  and  health,  and  if  he 
dwells  in  our  mortal  bodies  disease  will  not." 

Much  of  similar  import  follows  in  which  it  seems  Mr.  Dowie 
carried  his  audience  with  him  b\-  reference  to  Scripture  texts 
i  at  opportune  times,  and  by  one  of  the  boldest  forms  of  sug- 
gestion, blunt  assertion. 

*Mr.  Dowie  began  with  consummate  skill  to  group  his  fellow  believers 
into  a  "struggle  group"  long  before  the  formal  organization  of  the  C.  C. 
C.  in  Zion.  The  fact  that  they  have  been  compelled  to  tight  for  a  hearing 
for  their  favorite  doctrine,  and  have  been  compelled  to  unite  for  defense 
has  had  no  small  part  to  play  in  the  full  lox  alty  and  sacrificing  zeal  of 
his  followers.  (Cf.  Article,  Conformity  and  Heresy;  A  Study  in  Social 
Psychology.  Geo.  H.  Vincent,  Methodist  Review,  January.  February, 
1906.) 


88 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


The  point  of  the  reply  with  which  we  are  especially  dealing 
comes  when  Mr.  Dowie  says,  "God  raised  up  Luther  and 
many  great  reformers,  and  then  the  Word  of  God  went 
abroad,  and  the  church  of  God  has  been  rising  ever  since. 
The  doctrine  of  salvation  by  the  Grace  of  God  through  faith 
in  Jesus  came  back;  and  now  the  doctrine  of  divine  healing  by 
Grace  through  faith  in  Jesus  has  come  back  again." 

Audience.     "Praise  the  Lord.'"^ 

Mr.  Dowie.  "The  Lord  give  us  power  to  help  in  bringing 
back  in  its  fuUess  to  the  church  to-day  the  'old-time  religion,' 
that  tells  us  Jesus  Christ  is  a  present  healer." 

Audience.  "Amen." 

Mr.  Dowie.  "...  The  fact  that  our  Lord  himself 
preached  the  sermon  to  the  false  shepherds  in  John  lo,  who 
had  just  excommunicated  the  man  born  blind  to  whom  He  had 
restored  sight  shows  that  it  might  be  no  straining  of  the  pass- 
age if  we  applied  it  literally  to  those  shepherds  of  toda}'  who 
arrogantly  threaten  to  expel  their  people  and  demand  that 
their  office-bearers  in  the  church  shall  resign,  because  they 
confess  Christ  as  a  present  healer.  It  is  a  fact  beyond  all 
question  that  the  words  of  Ezekiel  34:4  are  applicable  to 
many  who  persecute  their  people  for  seeking  the  Lord  as 
their  healer,  and  to  those  of  them  who  hinder  the  sick  from 
coming  to  the  divine  healing  streams  which  are  once  more 
flowing  through  the  earth:  'The  diseased  have  ye  not 
strengthened,  neither  have  ye  healed  that  which  was  sick, 
neither  have  ye  bound  up  that  which  was  broken  .  .  .  but 
with  force  and  rigor  have  ye  ruled  over  them.' 

"it  was  our  Lord's  works  of  healing  which  especially 
'moved  with  indignation'  the  shepherds  of  his  day,  and  it 
seems  as  if  it  were  the  same  to-day;  for  we  are  assailed  with 
incredible  bitterness  by  some  of  our  fellow  shepherds  for  dar- 
ing to  teach  that  there  is  balm  in  Gilead,  and  that  Christ  is 
still  the  physician  of  his  people.  .  .  .  Oh  that  our  breth- 
ren in  the  ministry  of  our  Lord  would  cease  to  oppose  the 

*  Report  printed  by  Mr.  Dowie,  "Divine  Healing  Vindicated." 


PROPAGANDA 


89 


Gospel  of  divine  healing-,  and  see  that  they  are  only  fightinac 
against  God." 

From  this  position  of  rebuking  the  ministers  who  had  at- 
tacked his  belief  and  methods  in  1880,  Mr.  Dowie  advances 
to  the  position  a  few  years  later  where  he  regards  all  the 
churches  as  apostasies  and  denounces  them  as  perverters  of 
the  Gospel.  Holding  that  healing  is  coordinate  with  salva- 
tion in  the  plan  of  redemption,  he  insists  that  those  who  be- 
lieve the  full  Gospel  must  not  remain  in  the  churches,  but 
come  into  his  organization. 

In  his  pamphlet,  "Zion's  Protest  Aginst  Swine's  Flesh," 
page  14,  he  reports  the  following  dialogue  with  his  audience: 

"Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  yesterdav,  to-day  and  forever. 
If  He  is  the  same  is  He  not  the  same  Savior?" 

Audience.  "Yes." 

"The  same  healer?" 

Audience.  "Yes." 

"Have  they  (the  Heathen)  not  a  right  to  expect  the  mis- 
sionaries to  preach  an  unchangeable  deliverer?" 
Audience.  "Yes." 

"I  do  not  blame  a  Heathen  for  rejecting  Christianity  if  you 
offer  him  only  half  the  Gospel.  I  do  not  believe  that  God  will 
hold  the  Heathen  accountable  when  you  have  a  missionary 
there  telling  him  an  infernal  lie;  that  the  Christ  who  lived 
long  ago  is  not  the  same  healer  still.  I  do  not  believe  God 
will  hold  him  responsible;  because  the  Heathen  have  sense 
enough  to  know  that  the  book  in  ever}'  page  of  it  teaches  di- 
vine healing;  that  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament  has  it  from 
Exodus  where  God  gives  the  Covenant  'I  am  the  Lord  that 
healeth  thee,'  right  through  to  Revelation,  where  the  leaves 
of  the  tree  are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  You  cannot  find 
a  single  hour  inside  of  these  thousands  of  years  in  which  God 
was  not  the  healer,  in  which  He  was  not  revealed  as  the  heal- 
er. Your  missionary  boards  send  out  your  infernal  lies,  and 
your  medicine  chest,  and  your  surgical  knives,  and  tell  the 
Heathen  Christ  is  not  the  same.    Shame  on  you. 


go 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


Audience.  "Amen." 

"Nothing  else  can  save  China  or  any  land,  but  the  same 
old-time  religion." 

Mr.  Dowie  was  shrewd  enough  as  a  leader  of  people  to  see 
that  many  of  those  who  held  to  a  belief  in  divine  healing  were 
dissatisfied  with  the  churches  in  which  they  held  their  mem- 
bership, and  that  for  the  most  part  the  churches  were  intoler- 
ant of  those  who  made  this  supreme,  or  one  of  the  most 
important  articles  of  their  faith.  He  knew  how  easy  it  was  to 
fan  this  dissatisfaction  into  a  flame  and  to  lead  these  people 
to  believe  the  churches  apostate,"  whose  ministers  not  only 
would  not  teach  the  doctrine,  but  tried  to  suppress  the  testi- 
mony of  those  in  the  churches  who  did. 

Mr.  Dowie  says,*  "it  is  impossible  to  see  so  long  as  your 
sins  and  your  iniquities  stand  between  you  and  God.  You 
can  see  nothing  unless  perhaps  it  be  the  Methodist  Church, 
the  Baptist  Church,  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Congrega- 
tional Church,  the  Lutheran  Church,  or  some  other  denomin- 
ation. But  you  cannot  see  Jesus  until  you  have  repented  of 
your  sins,  and  your  eyes  are  opened  to  see  Christ.  You  are 
blind.     No  church  can  save  you.    You  must  see  and  know. 

I  do  not  know  of  a  single  member  of  the  C.  C.  C.  in 
Zion  who  either  uses  alcohol  or  nicotine  poisons,  eats  swine's 
flesh,  goes  to  the  theatre,  or  is  in  affiliation  with  the  world  in 
its  iniquities:  ...  It  is  simply  impossible  for  a  true 
Christian  to  do  these  things.  A  man  may  call  himself  a 
Christian,  but  if  he  defiles  his  body 'he  is  being  destroyed. 
He  is  defiling  the  temple  of  God.  A  defiler  of  the  temple  of 
God  may  call  himself  a  Christian,  but  he  has  no  right  to  ex- 
])ect  that  any  one  shall  believe  it;  for  he  stinks  like  the  Devil." 
(Laughter.)    .    .  . 

Is  the  home  of  a  man  who  calls  himself  a  Christian  and 
never  prays  with  wife  or  children  a  Christian  home?  The 
man  who  says  Christ  is  all,  and  yet  raises  no  voice  of  praise 

*  Pamphlet,  "Principles.  Practices  and  Purposes  of  the  C.  C.  C.  in  Zion," 
p.  6  ft. 


PROPAGANDA 


91 


in  his  home,  reads  no  Word  of  God,  sends  his  sons  and  his 
daughters  out  of  a  prayerless  home  into  a  Godless  world.  He 
is  not  a  Christian.  He  is  a  liar.  He  is  a  sham.  He  is  a 
cheat.  He  is  a  coward.  If  such  there  be  in  Zion,  they  had 
better  repent  very  quicklv  before  we  hear  of  them,  or  we  will 
put  them  out.  (Laughter.)  Thev  must  be  Methodists  or 
Presbyterians  or  something  of  that  kind;  for  the  C.  C.  C.  in 
Zion  practices  its  religion  first  in  its  home."  * 

Scarcely  an  address  of  Mr.  Dowie's  of  his  later  ministry 
was  free  from  some  tirade  against  the  denominations  as  har- 
borers  of  all  sorts  of  Devils  and  hypocrites,  with  an  appeal  or 
blunt  command  to  "come  out  from  among  them." 

"Let  me  put  it  simply  and  plainly.  The  purpose  of  the 
Christian  Catholic  Church  in  Zion  is  to  smash  everj'  other 
church  in  existence.  (Hisses  from  various  parts  of  the  build- 
ing.   Applause  from  members  and  friends  of  Zion.)  t    .    .  . 

When  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  established  His  Church,  he  es- 
tablished a  church  which  was  intended  to  smash  every  church 
then  in  existence.  The  geese  and  the  serpents  were  not 
thinking  when  they  hissed.  Perhaps  they  had  been  drinking. 
Perhaps  they  had  been  stinking  with  tobacco,  and  the}'^ 
thought  it  a  nice  thing  to  be  able  to  hiss.  I  am  glad  you  are 
here.  You  have  caught  it  this  time,  you  serpents.  (Hisses 
renewed.    Applause  from  members  and  friends  renewed.)  + 

The  Christian  Church  was  established  to  destroy  the  Jewish 
Church  and  every  form  of  heathen  worship.  It  was  estab- 
lished to  destroy  every  kind  of  apostasy.  It  was  established 
to  destrov  evil.  The  Christian  Church  was  established  to  de- 
stroy hypocrites  in  every  form.  (Several  scores  of  people 
arose  and  left  the  building  at  this  point.) 

*  The  "out-and-out"  thoroughgoing  insistence  upon  a  religion  that  can 
be  seen,  that  shows  itself  openly,  has  always  appealed  to  the  class  of 
people  Zion  has  reached. 

^  This  address  was  delivered  in  Philadelphia,  when  many  of  those 
present  were  not  his  followers. 

I  Notice  how  opposition  seems  to  embolden  and  unite  Mr.  Dowie's 
followers. 


92 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


I  am  very  glad  to  find  that  I  have  made  a  most  moving 
speech.  (Applause.  Hisses.)  I  can  tell  when  there  has 
been  good  work  done.  The  Devil  brings  in  his  ambulance 
and  carries  off  the  wounded.  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  will 
find  sympathy  in  the  various  churches  of  the  city.  I  will  say 
the  truth  no  matter  what  happens.  I  have  a  message.  I  am 
in  a  place  where  I  am  commanded  of  my  God  and  of  con- 
science to  speak,  and  if  an}'  one  does  not  like  it,  thej'  can  go 
away.  I  am  at  liberty  to  speak,  and  speak  I  will.  So  far  as 
I  can  see,  the  churches  of  to-day  have  gone  into  the  wa}'  of 
Baal.  Their  members,  their  elders,  and  their  bishops  have 
been  bowing  at  the  altar  of  Baal,  the  Sun-God,  in  the  Masonic 
lodge.  Yet  not  all  have  sinned  thus.  There  are  multitudes 
of  good  people  within  these  churches.  There  are  multitudes 
of  godly  ministers  within  these  churches.  There  are  multi- 
tudes who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal  within  these 
churches.  They  are  deceived  by  their  leaders.  They  are 
misdirected  b}-  their  leaders.* 

God's  will  is  the  destruction  of  every  organization  which 
does  not  extend  the  Kingdom  of  God.  I  call  vour  attention 
to  the  statistics  of  the  denominations,  to  their  own  self-con- 
fessed failure,  and  point  out  to  you  that  the  time  has  come 
when  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  not  being  extended  by  their 
agency.  .  .  .  The  things  which  can  be  shaken  must  be 
taken  away.  The  things  to  remain  are  the  things  which  can- 
not be  shaken.  Zion  has  arisen;  a  Kingdom  which  cannot  be 
shaken;  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

Oh  God,  let  that  consuming  fire  destroy  evil  and  establish 

^■(Personal  letter  to  me.)—"!  joined  Zion  because  it  was  the  only  way 
and  place  you  could  get  the  three-fold  Gospel  teached.  There  are  thousands 
of  people  to-day  that  would  like  to  go  and  hear  Dowie  preach,  but  he  is 
continually  raking  the  worldly  churches,  and  consequently  you  would 
rather  be  in  darkness  than  to  step  in  the  light  and  get  some  of  the  true 
teaching." 

From  Leaves  of  Healing:— "There  is  nothing  in  the  denominations  to- 
day that  has  such  a  holding  influence  upon  the  people  as  the  beautiful 
truths  of  Zion,  and  that  keeps  them  true  and  faithful." 


PROPAGANDA 


93 


good!  May  that  fire  which  burnt  nineteen  centuries  ago  in 
the  destruction  of  the  apostate  Jewish  Church,  destro}^  every 
form  of  apostasy  to-daj"  and  bring  in  the  reign  of  God  and 
righteousness." 

At  the  close  of  this  address,  Mr..Dowie  gives  what  he  terms 
the  CALL.  "On  what  side  do  you  desire  to  stand?  Are  you 
so  tied  to  men  and  systems  that  you  will  be  blind  to  God  and 
His  eternal  purposes?  Are  you  determined  to  stand  for  God, 
and  to  live  according  to  conscience?  Are  you  determined  to 
do  right,  no  matter  what  the  results  may  be?  Are  you  deter- 
mined to  live  as  nearly  in  accordance  with  the  commands  of 
Jesus  Christ  as  you  can?  All  who  desire  to  live  for  God  in 
this  way,  stand  and  tell  him  so.  All  who  desire  to  live  for 
God,  with  all  your  minds,  and  souls,  and  strength,  stand  and 
pray."     (Hundreds  arose.)  * 

PRAYER  OF  CONSECRATION. 

"'Sly  God  and  Father,  in  Jesus'  name  I  come  to  Thee. 
Take  me  as  1  am.  ^fake  me  what  1  ought  to  be,  in  spirit,  in 
soul,  in  body.  Give  me  Thy  Holy  Spirit.  Enable  me  to 
trust  Thee;  to  do  right  to  any  whom  I  may  have  wronged;  to 
repent,  to  restore,  to  confess,  to  do  right  in  Thy  sight.  Give 
me  Thy  Hoh-  Spirit  that  I  may  be  brave  to  follow  Jesus  with- 
out the  gate  as  well  as  within  the  gate,  to  bear  His  cross,  to 
endure  His  shame,  to  triumph  with  Him.  Give  me  Thy  Holy 
Spirit,  that  I  may  be  pure  in  spirit  and  in  soul  and  body,  for 
Jesus'  sake."  (All  repeat  the  prayer,  clause  by  clause,  after 
the  General  Overseer.) 

"Did  you  mean  that?" 

Voices.  "Yes." 

General  Overseer. — "Will  you  live  it?" 
Voices.  "Yes." 

General  Overseer. — "Then  you  belong  to  Zion.  Get  in 
quickly.  You  do  not  belong  outside;  for  outside  that  life  is 
not  lived." 

*  Notice  the  truly  "revival"  method  of  handling  an  audience.  Cf.  Dav- 
enport, "Primitive  Traits,"  Chapter,  Conversion  by  Suggestion. 


94 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


Here  is  an  advertisement  of  the  Leaves  of  Healing  which 
is  very  significant  and  indicates  the  amount  of  energy  that 
Zion  has  expended  in  the  destructive  work  of  encouraging 
disaffection  among  members  of  the  churches,  united  with  a 
forceful  presentation  of  reasons  for  coming  to  Zion. 


LEAVES  OF  HEALING 

EDITED  BY  REV.  JOHN  ALEX.  DOWIE 

Elijah  the  Restorer 
General  Overseer  of  the  Christian  Catholic  Church  in  Zion 


A  Paper  Full  of  Wide-awake  Truths  tor  Lukewarm  Churches  and  an  Unbelieving 
World,  as  well  as  for  True- Hearted  Christians  and  All  Who 
Love  Our  Lord's  Appearing. 

WOULD  YOU  KNOW  OF 

God's  Word  of  Power/— Heb,  4:12.          -         -  Read  Leaves  of  Healing 

God's  Full  Salvation?— 2  Thes  2:13-16.       -  -     Read  Leaves  of  Healin<r 

God's  Way  of  Healing?— Mark  0:12,  13.           -  Read  Leaves  of  Healing 

God's  Spirit  of  Prophecy?-Rev.  19:10.        -  -     Read  Leaves  of  Healing 

God's  Latter  Day  Zion? — Jer.  3:14,  15.     -         -  Read  Leaves  of  Healing 

God's  People  of  Promise?— Mai.  3:10.         -  -     Read  Leaves  of  Healing 

God's  Highway  of  Holiness?— Is  35:8,  9.         -  Read  Leaves  of  Healing 

God's  Messenger  of  Repentance? -Luke  3:7,  9.  -     Read  Leaves  of  Healing 

God's  Call  to  True  Christians?— 2  Cor.  6:14-16.  -     Read  Lea •'es  of  Healing 

God's  Rebuke  to  the  Churches?— Rev.  3:3,  4.     -  Read  Leaves  of  Healing 

God's  Contention  with  Preachers?— Ezek.  24:2-6.  Read  Leaves  of  Healing 


The  Zion  ]:)eople  have  also  fully  denounced  the  existing 
churches  as  evidenced  by  the  following  statement: 

"LEAVES  OF  HEALING"  A  POWER  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  EVERY  MEMBER 
OF  ZION. 

But  you  cannot  say  these  things  in  exactly  the  same  words  1  use. 

If  thev  say  to  you,  "Do  you  believe  the  horrible  things  Dr.  Dowie  says?" 
you  answer,  "Yes." 

If  they  say,  "Then  vou  are  just  as  bad  as  he  is,"  you  can  reply.  "You 
read  what  he  says,"  and  give  them  a  copy  ot  Leaves  of  Healing. 

It  will  soak  iiilo  their  minds  and  hearts,  and  they  will  think  about  it. 

Thousands  of  you  were  Methodist,  Baptist,  Episcopalian,  or  some  other 
kind  ot  stinkpots,  but  you  were  made  to  see  that  1  was  right. 

That  is  what  I  think  God  means  by  linking  Long-suffering  with  Gen- 
tleness—Gentleness associated  with  Power. 

You  must  remember  that  all  have  not  the  same  gift. 

Some  ot  you  try  to  use  my  forcible  language  without  having  back  of  it 
the  kind  spirit  and  the  Gentleness. 

1  do  not  know  how  to  speak  ot  it  myself,  because  it  might  appear  like 
egotism. -L.  of  H.,  Vol.  15,  No.  16,  p.  S02. 


PROPAGANDA 


95 


Another  feature  of  his  agg^ressive  propagandism  has  been  a 
positive  setting  forth  and  inculcating  of  his  "restoration" 
ideas/"  This  has  been  the  easier  because  the  way  was  open 
to  create  disaffection  and  to  lead  to  a  belief  in  the  apostasy 
of  the  existing  churches  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  alread}' 
believers  in  faith  healing.  One  reason  for  the  measure  of 
success  in  having  his  "restoration"  program  and  ideas  ac- 
cepted has  been  the  prevalence  in  the  churches  of  what  may 
be  termed  "restoration"  notions.  To  go  back  considerable, 
we  find  that  in  the  early  days  of  Mormonism'''  this  belief  in 
the  restoration  of  a  primitive  gospel  was  prevalent  to  a  great 
extent.  Nearly  all  Adventists  and  believers  in  the  premillen- 
nial  second  coming  of  Christ  have  held  to  'a  great  falling 
away  from  the  gospel  and  an  age  of  the  restoration  of  all 
things."  A  Mormon,  Newell  Knight,  says:  "By  reading  and 
searching  the  Bible,  I  found  that  there  would  be  a  great  falling 
away  from  the  gospel,  as  preached  and  established  by  Jesus; 
that  in  the  last  days  God  would  set  His  hand  to  restore  that 
which  was  lost."  -t  Western  New  York,  where  Mormonism 
arose,  was  "thoroughly  impregnated  with  restorationist  views, 
in  fact  the  Irvingites  sent  a  deputation  to  Smith  to  express 
sympathv  because  of  his  assertion  of  the  perpetuity  of  miracles 
in  the  church."  § 

*The  restoration  or  restitution  of  all  things  is  a  form  of  thought  con- 
nected with  extremists  in  interpreting  prophecy.  Many  have  a  program 
arranged  of  what  has  been  predicted  in  Scripture.  This  form  of  interpre- 
tation is  familiar  to  all  readers  of  such  books  as  Millennial  Dawn,  etc. 
The  term  restoration  is  also  used  for  restitution,  meaning  a  making  right 
of  wrongs.    Cf.  Chapter  on  Doctrine. 

t  Riley— Founder  of  Mormonism,  p.  245  ff. 

I  Riley  op.  clt.  258-288.  This  refers  to  a  belief  in  the  restoral  of  the 
gifts  to  the  church,  especially  thatot  healing,  and  is  cast  in  the  apocalyptic 
thought  forms. 

=5  Divine  healing  rests  upon  the  idea  of  continuance  of  miracles  of  course. 
Mr.  Dowie  has  again  and  again  tried  to  show  that  the  hymnology  of  the 
church— the  psalm  paraphrases,  gospel  hymns,  Christian  poetr\'  in  general, 
is  full  of  divine  healing  He  is  no  innovator  here  he  claims.  Cf.  Chains 
of  Good  and  Evil,  p.  8  ft. 


96 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


The  continuance  of  such  teaching  which  insists  on  the  per- 
manence of  all  the  "gifts"  of  apostolic  daj^s  and  regards  a  re- 
storing of  them  as  necessary  when  lost,  has  been  the  result  of 
distribution  of  tracts  and  literature  b}'  various  individuals  and 
sects,  and  at  least  one  large  denomination.  * 

The  Disciples  of  Christ  arose  out  of  a  feeling  of  the  need 
of  restoring  the  name  Christian  as  the  onh'  name  for  the 
church  of  Christ,  and  certain  apostolic  practices,  such  as  the 
weekly  observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  Mormons  took 
pains  to  refute  the  claims  of  Alexander  Campbell  to  have  re- 
stored primitive  Christianity,  t 

*  Minor  sects  have  always  been  characterized  by  a  religious  primitive- 
ness.  It  could  not  be  otherwise,  as  they  withdraw  themselves  from  the 
contaminating  influences  of  society  at  large.  They  adopt  as  a  rule  the 
idea  of  the  decrease  of  faith  in  the  world  to  well  nigh  the  vanishing  point 
as  a  preliminary  to  the  return  of  Christ  and  the  personal  founding  of  His 
kingdom,  or  like  Zion,  they  go  through  a  period  of  rapid  increase  by  as- 
similating to  themselves  those  ot  "like  precious  faith,"  and  are  daring 
enough  to  predict  that  they  will  sweep  the  world.  Somewhere  tho  in  the 
midst  of  this  wonderful  process  Christ  is  expected  to  return  to  give  the 
full  assistance  of  His  actual  presence. 

"Quakers,  Primitive  Baptists.  Restorationists,  and  Later-Day  Saints  (the 
name  Later-Day  is  significant)  all  hope  for  the  return  of  prophetic  gifts." 
Riley  op.  cit.  p.  236 

I  have  myself  had  a  slight  acquaintance  with  the  anti-Polygamous 
Mormons,  a  small  sect  in  protest  against  the  Mormon  hierarchy.  They 
send  out  "Apostles"  to  conduct  evangelistic  meetings.  They  thoroughly 
canvassed  our  little  city,  (Evansville,  Wis.)  held  tent  meetings  and 
preached  doctrines  similar  to  those  of  the  Six  Principle  Baptists.  Their 
idea  of  repentance  and  restitution  was  endorsed  by  some  Zion  people.  1 
heard  as  densely  ignorant  a  discussion  by  one  of  their  ministers,  as  any  of 
the  many  negro  speeches  I  have  heard.  "Restoration  of  Gifts"  was  his 
theme,  and  he  spent  considerable  time  "expositing"  Mk.  16:17,  18,  and 
Heb.  6:1,  2. 

t  Hiley  (op.  cit.  p.  390  footnote) quotes  from  J.  F.  McDowell,  "Disciple- 
ism,  or  the  claims  of  Alexander  Campbell  to  a  Restored  Christianity  Ex- 
amined," 1901.  p.  12.  "We  have  therefore  weighed  this  church  in  the  bal- 
ance of  God's  Word  and  found  it  wanting,  rendering  the  following  count 
of  indictments  against  it: 

1.  They  have  no  apostles.  2.  No  prophets.  3.  No  seventies.  4.  No 
priests.    5.  No  bishops.   6.  No  teachers.    7.  Signs  of  gifts  of  Mk.  16:17, 


PROPAGANDA 


97 


There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Disciples  have  agitated 
the  idea  of  the  restoration  of  primitive  Christianity  without 
laying  so  much  stress  on  the  form  or  forms  to  be  restored. 

In  an  age  of  multiplicity  of  sects  and  denominations  this 
idea  of  restoring  a  united  primitive  Christianity  has  had  great 
weight  with  multitudes  in  all  the  churches.  Mr.  Dowie  found  a 
fertile  field  of  discontent  with  existing  conditions  and  real 
yearning  for  unity  in  Christendom  on  the  basis  of  the  New 
Testament,  at  the  close  of  the  19th  century  in  America.  The 
pity  is  that  those  who  feel  thus  have  allowed  the  names  of 
sects  and  variety  of  forms  of  worship  to  obscure  the  sense  of 
the  underlying  unity  of  true  Christians  which  is  growing  to 
be  a  reality  more  and  more.  * 

So  on  the  tide  of  dissatisfaction  with  an  insufficient  gospel 
preaching  which  ignored  or  opposed  divine  healing,  and  a 

18,  do  not  follow  them.  8.  They  do  not  lay  on  hands  after  baptism,  for 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  9.  They  do  not  call  the  elders  for  the  sick, 
as  directed  in  James  5:14,  15.  10.  They  do  not  teach  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead  as  taught  in  the  Bible.  1 1 .  They  do  not  teach  the  Bible  doctrine 
of  Eternal  Judgement  12.  They  claim  to  teach  baptism  for  the  remission 
of  sins,  but  contradict  themselves  by  taking  people  into  their  fellowship 
who  have  not  been  so  baptized,  without  rebaptism.  13.  They  do  not  lay 
on  hands  for  the  blessing  of  little  children.  14.  They  teach  that  the 
church  existed  for  the  first  time  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost.  15.  They  believe 
and  teach  that  the  gospel  was  never  taught  in  fact  until  the  Day  of  Pente- 
cost,   16.  They  do  not  teach  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

We  will  now  let  the  reader  decide  how  far  Mr.  Campbell  and  his  suc- 
cessors have  been  successful  in  restoring  primitive,  origirral  Christianity. 
The  Bible  does  teach  the  probability  and  possibility  of  a  restoration  of  the 
gospel  and  kingdom  of  God  in  the  latter  days  as  forshadowed  in  Matt. 
24:14;  Mai.  3:1-3;  Rev.  14:6,  7;  and  that  after  the  restoration  had  occurred 
some  would  depart  from  the  faith  as  note  I  Tim.  4:1.  The  words  "the 
faith,"  evidently  have  reference  to  the  entire  gospel  scheme, as  implied  by 
Paul  in  Eph.  4:5." 

*  The  recent  conference  for  Religious  Federation  and  co-operation  held 
in  New  York  beginning  Nov.  15,  1905,  represented  more  than  seventeen 
million  church  members,  twenty-six  different  denominations,  all  hoping 
and  working  for  the  fundamental  unity  of  Christian  service.  It  is  signifi- 
cant that  the  "restored"  churches  held  aloot  from  that  Federation. 


98 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


continuance  of  miraculous  gifts,  and  a  literalism  which  ex- 
pected their  recovery,  or  affirmed  their  presence  with  true 
Christians,  in  an  age  of  religious  transition,*  Mr.  Dowie  rose 
to  the  position  of  "Restorer"  and  absolute  head  of  the  primi- 
tive C.  C.  A.  C.  in  Zion. 

We  have  already  noticed  in  a  previous  chapter  some  of  the 
steps  by  which  he  came  to  assume  this  function  of  "Restorer" 
and  this  office  of  Apostle,  and  in  this  chapter  have  noticed 
how  he  went  about  creating  dissatisfaction  with  the  existing 
churches.  We  now  look  a  little  more  closely  at  his  method 
of  restoring. 

Mr.  Dowie  says  :  t  "Divine  healing  is  not  a  novelty.  I  am 
introducing  no  innovation.  In  the  church  of  the  Living  God 
any  other  kind  of  healing  except  divine  healing  is  an  innova- 
tion. God  made  no  provision  for  any  other  kind  of  healing 
than  directly  by  himself.  Doctors,  drugs,  and  surgeons  are 
spoken  of  in  the  Old  Testament  in  the  terms  of  contempt, 
such  as  these:  'Ye  are  all  physicians  of  no  value.'  'In  vain 
shalt  thou  use  many  medicines.'  Such  passages  as  these 
are  not  the  only  references  in  the  Old  Testament  to  doctors 
and  drugs  ;  but  all  through  the  teaching  is  maintained  that 
God  is  the  healer  of  His  people  t  If  you  were  to  open  your 
Bible  to  the  middle  verses,  you  would  find  them  to  be  the 
2nd  and  3rd  verses  of  the  103rd  Psalm,  and  read  thus  : 

'  Bless  Jehovah,  O  my  soul, 
•And  forget  not  all  His  benefits  : 
Who  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities  ; 
Who  healeth  all  thy  diseases.' 

*  Any  of  the  religious  literature  or  religious  journals  would  indicate  this 
to  be  a  transition  period.  Traditionalism  is  being  scrutinized  and  many 
old  beliefs  are  passing.  Cf.  Coe,  "Religion  of  a  Mature  Mind;"  for  ex- 
ample. 

t  Address,  Shiloh  Tabernacle. 

t  Mr.  Dowie* says  more  against  doctors  and  drugs  in  five  minutes  than 
the  Bible  does  all  the  way  through.  This  has  wonderfully  helped  to 
"gang"  his  people. 


PROPAGANDA 


99 


Those  are  the  middle  verses  of  the  Bible.  It  is  the  central 
truth  of  the  Bible  that  God  forgives  our  sins  and  heals  our 
sicknesses  when  we  do  His  will." 

As  it  was  with  his  restoring  of  divine  healing  it  has  been 
with  other  peculiar  beliefs  of  Zion.  *  He  has  tried  to  show 
their  Scriptural  origin  and  authority',  doing  so  by  the  clever 
indirect  suggestion  of  the  orator  when  in  public  address,  and 
the  consummate  skill  of  an  organizer  and  promoter  at  all 
times. 

Mr.  Dowie  has  been  a  preacher  of  great  power  with  certain 
people,  t  He  has  made  most  effective  use  of  the  living  voice 
and  while  many  of  his  services  have  been  grotesque  in  the 
extreme,  +  when  compared  with  conventional  standards,  he 
has  had  an  intuitive  sense  of  how  to  manage  his  audiences. 
One  of  his  followers  would  make  us  believe  he  is  the  greatest 
or  equal  to  the  greatest  of  preachers  who  have  ever  proclaimed 
Christianity'.  §  To  reproduce  his  thought  briefly,  he  contends 
that  Savonarola  owed  much  of  his  success  in  drawing  his  vast 
audiences  to  the  beautiful  house  of  worship  of  the  Roman 
church,  and  to  his  splendid  eloquence.  Bossuet  had  the  addi- 
tional advantage  that  he  was  the  darling  of  the  court  and  that 
it  was  the  fashion  to  hear  him.  Whitefield  and  Wesley  were 
orators  of  wonderful  attractiveness,  whose  mere  speech  and 
action  would  have  drawn  crowds,  no  matter  what  had  been 
the  subject  of  their  discourses.  Again  they  found  a  special 
opportunity  in  that  they  voiced  a  dissension  in  England 
against  the  existing  conditions  of  the  religious  world  ;  thous- 
ands who  had  not  the  gift  of  public  speaking  had  long  been 
thinking  the  things  that  these  men  preached  and  therefore 
flocked  to  hear  them  ;  glad  and  happy  to  hear  at  last,  that 
said  in  public,  which  had  for  a  long  time  been  in  secret  a  bur- 
den upon  their  own  hearts.    Robertson,  Spurgeon,  Brooks, 

*  See  Chapter,  Doctrines. 

t  See  Chapter,  People  of  Zion. 

{See  discussion  under  Worship  in  introduction. 

^  H.  B.  Walmsley,  reported  in  Zion  Banner,  Oct.  2,  1903. 


lOO 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


and  Beecher  had  the  advantage  of  preaching  in  an  established 
house  of  worship  with  a  strong  church  organization  to  sup- 
port them.  They  were  all  free  also  from  the  competition  of 
Sunday  newspapers,  one  of  the  most  potent  agencies  for  empty- 
ing the  churches. 

Dr.  Swing,  Chicago's  greatest  preacher  before  Dr.  Dowie, 
was  a  poet,  with  a  voice  of  music  and  a  personality  which 
would  have  made  one  stay  to  listen  even  had  the  matter  been 
no  more  interesting  than  Homer's  catalogue  of  the  ships.  But 
he  made  his  sermons  an  artistic  and  intellectual  marvel.  The 
arts,  sciences,  literature,  history,  being  laid  under  contribu- 
tion with  the  insight  of  a  poet. 

Now  remembering  these  advantages,  notice  John  Alexander 
Dowie's  work  as  a  preacher.  "He  came  to  Chicago  a  few 
years  ago,  from  the  other  side  of  the  world — unheralded,  un- 
known, backed  by  no  Synod,  supported  by  no  hierarchy  to 
bid  the  faithful  hearken  to  him.  If  he  possessed  any  gifts  as 
an  orator  he  despises  them  and  of  set  purpose  studioush' 
avoids  employing  them,  deeming  it  not  fitting  that  his  Master's 
messages  to  the  world  should  be  tricked  out  in  any  adventi- 
tious aids  to  make  them  more  acceptable.  He  found  a  suitable 
room  for  his  meetings,  went  into  it  with  a  Bible  in  his  hand  and 
began  to  preach.  Suppose  when  John  Alexander  Dowie  be- 
gan to  preach  in  Chicago,  that  most  wicked  city,  he  had  told 
the  reporters  that  he  intended  to  continue  his  preaching 
until  he  was  drawing  into  the  largest  hall  in  the  city  every 
Sunday  over  5000  people  who  come  solely  to  hear  God's  word 
as  he  declared  it  from  the  Bible,  what  a  laugh  that  would  have 
raised,  and  what  a  display  of  cheap  wit  there  would  have  been 
over  the  pretensions  of  an  enthusiast.  The  thing  would  have 
been  madness  beyond  belief — impossible.  And  yet  in  a  few 
short  years  he  has  done  this  thing.  As  his  hearers  increased 
in  number  he  took  a  larger  and  larger  place,  until  he  capped 
the  climax  of  his  mighty  success  by  holding  his  Sunday  after- 
noon meetings  in  the  Auditorium.  This  Chicago  claims — and 
justly — to  be  one  of  the  world's  greatest  halls.    This  vast 


PROPAGANDA 


lOI 


room  he  filled  continuously  every  Sunday  with  audiences  of 
5000  and  over.  And  when  he  left  there  it  was  to  continue  his 
preaching  at  Zion  City  to  even  larger  congregations  in  a 
larger  auditorium.  His  work  stands  alone;  is  unique,  and 
puts  him  in  the  first  place  among  humanitv's  preachers  after 
the  Apostles." 

This  is  doubtless  a  sincere  valuation  of  Mr.  Dowie  as  a 
preacher  and  there  is  point  in  the  fact  that  a  man  of  some 
intelligence  could  be  so  impressed,  even  tho  we  were  certain 
it  intentionally  sought  to  flatter,  and  could  give  good 
reasons  for  the  crowds  Mr.  Dowie  has  drawn  to  him  along 
the  lines  suggested  in  this  discussion,  namelj',  his  unusual 
character  and  method,  his  sensationalism,  his  point  of  contact 
in  the  currency  of  belief  in  divine  healing  and  the  kind  of 
people  he  leads.  The  fact  remains  that  the  people  did  go  to 
hear  Mr.  Dowie  and  his  platform  power,  and  abilit}'  to  gather 
people  to  himself,  has  been  no  small  element  of  his  success. 
Mr.  Dowie  has  been  the  soul  and  inspiration  of  his  propa- 
ganda, whatever  other  elements  maj-  have  co-operated  to  as- 
sist him.  This  we  must  not  ignore  in  getting  at  an  under- 
standing of  the  growth  of  Zion. 

It  is  true  that  his  audiences  have  been  of  a  peculiar  and 
unusual  kind,  in  regard  to  which  a  ]:)rominent  psychologist 
and  educator,  himself  an  excellent  speaker,  says  :  "it  seems 
to  me  if  I  had  seen  the  very  same  crowd  gathered  at  a  con- 
cert or  an  auction  I  should  have  noticed  signs  indicative  of  a 
peculiar  type  of  mind.  This  type  is  hard  to  describe  without 
coming  directh-  to  the  fact  that  needs  to  be  proved,  namely, 
suggestibility.  ...  It  lacks  brightness  and  spontaneity.  If  I 
were  myself  obliged  to  talk  to  such  a  crowd  I  should  feel  that 
I  should  have  to  carry  a  load  of  lead." 

It  is  also  true  that  his  peculiar  teaching  believed  by  many, 
a  novelt}'  to  others,  together  with  the  unusualness  of  his 
claims,  have  had  no  small  part  in  securing  attendance  at 
services  and  enlistments  in  the  organization.  In  addition, 
the  sensational  and  often  disgraceful  methods  of  calling  out 


102 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


a  crowd,  as  in  New  York,  have  given  him  a  certain  sort  of 
renown  as  a  preacher.  But  after  all  this  has  been  said  the 
living  voice  of  Mr.  Dowie  had  been  a  mighty  force  in  the 
propagandism  of  Zion.  He  may  not  have  eloquence  or  be  a 
pleasing  speaker,  but  his  power  to  batter  down  antagonism 
and  establish  his  point  was  irresistible  when  one  was  a  be- 
liever in  his  premises.  "Wasn't  he  gifted  with  magnetism? 
Didn't  he  cast  a  spell  over  his  audiences?  Didn't  he  hypno- 
tize his  hearers?"  These  and  similar  questions  have  been 
asked  by  way  of  suggesting  what  appears  to  be  an  explana- 
tion of  his  preaching  power.  But  to  answer  yes,  would  not 
be  to  solve  Mr.  Dowie.  Upon  me  personally  he  has  never 
had  any  magnetic  or  any  other  sort  of  power.  When  in  his 
audience  at  different  times,  by  an  effort  of  will  I  have  placed 
myself  at  his  disposal  as  far  as  possible.  Before  long  a  feel- 
ing of  revulsion  would  dissipate  all  sympathetic  relations 
with  his  discourse.  Yet  many,  certainly  all  of  his  followers, 
appeared  to  enjoy  hearing  him,  and  have  been  loud  in  his 
praises  as  a  proclaimer  of  the  truth.  One  thing  about  him 
that  seems  to  be  the  real  basis  of  his  influence  in  a  public 
service,  and  which  again  and  again  impressed  itself  upon  me, 
was  the  tremendous  energy  of  the  man.  Vitality,  expended 
most  prodigally  in  a  public  service,  especially  the  larger  meet- 
ings, gave  him  his  grip.  He  was  constantly  in  action.  Ab- 
solute tirelessness  seemed  to  characterize  his  evangelism  when 
handling  a  big  audience  ;  he  pleaded,  commanded,  satirized, 
denounced,  commended,  threatened;  he  dramatized,  he  im- 
personated and  with  blunt,  overbearing  assertion,  forced  his 
point,  at  least  with  those  in  any  way  susceptible.  For  long 
hours  he  would  have  the  center  of  the  platform,  and  unwearied 
himself,  he  would  wear  out  by  sheer  strength,  any  not  borne 
along  on  the  tide  of  his  argumentation  or  emotion.  * 

He  also  furnished  impulse  for  his  people.  "Zion  doesn't 
endeavor,  Zion  does"  came  to  be  a  driving  thought  with  his 

*  This  opinion  is  reinforced  by  that  of  many  friends  and  acquaintances 
of  mine  who  have  heard  him. 


PROPAGANDA 


103 


people,  not  because  he  said  it,  but  because  he  embodied  it, 
and  it  transformed  them  one  and  all  into  active,  forth-going 
propagandists.  Zion  thus  in  the  sphere  of  its  point  of  con- 
tact became  well  nigh  irresistible.  Mr.  Dowie  was,  in  addi- 
tion, an  organizer  of  ability  and  exhaustlessness.  He  vis- 
ioned  the  possibilities  and  then  placed  his  forces  so  as  to  real- 
ize them. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  organization  of  the  church  he  ar- 
ranged for  the  different  officers  of  administration  and  religious 
work.  As  the  church  grew  the  organization  was  adapted,  and 
workers  trained,  to  meet  the  growing  needs.  In  Chicago  con- 
siderable religious  work  was  done  by  the  Zion  people  in  twos. 
Mr.  Dowie  says,  speaking  of  his  organization  known  as  the 
Zion  Restoration  Host:  " 

"The}-  are  picked  members  of  the  church  whom  we  first 
organized  in  twos  and  then  made  tens,  and  then  made 
them  seventies,  and  thoroughly  trained  them.  We  have  eight 
to  ten  thousand  of  them  in  all  parts  of  the  world  and  they 
are  under  special  vow  to  God  and  to  myself  as  Elijah  the 
Restorer."  t 

This  host  was  organized  as  late  as  September  i,  1902,  hut  as 
seventies,  tens  and  twos,  had  been  doing  effective  work  long 
before  that  time,  in  systematically  spreading  Zion  views,  and 
carrying  forward  the  propaganda  of  the  organization.  Mr. 
Dowie  says  "Every  one  of  my  people  is,  as  a  worker,  worth 
ten  in  the  other  churches.  +  I  will  give  you  an  illustration: 
These  three  thousand  of  Zion  Restoration  Host  were  trained 
very  carefully  for  the  1903  visitation.  I  had  a  map  of  New 
York  made  as  large  as  the  wall  of  this  room  and  1  hung  it  at 
Shiloh  tabernacle  at  Zion  City,  and  marked  upon  it  all  the 

*  Havana  Interview.  L.  of  H.,  March  4.  1905. 
tSee  Introduction  for  Zion  Restoration  Vow. 

J  Sectarianism  in  its  early  stages  is  always  able  to  "gang"  its  people 
better  and  get  greater  loyalty  and  enthusiasm  than  later.  It  is  a  sort  ot 
struggle  for  life  itself.  Add  to  this  the  newness  and  glow  of  it  all  and  we 
have  the  explanation  of  Mr.  Dowie's  statement. 


:04 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


railroads  and  streets,  and  car  lines  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
includin}^  Brooklyn.  Then  we  trained  our  people  in  seven- 
ties. They  had  covered  Chicago  eight  times  in  one  year, 
visiting  almost  every  house  in  it  eight  times.  So  we  trained 
them  by  calling  upon  a  captain  of  a  ten  and  asking  him  how 
he  would  reach  and  work  a  certain  district.  Then  he  would 
explain  how  he  would  reach  the  district  from  our  headquar- 
ters at  Madison  Square  Garden,  and  how  he  would  distribute 
his  workers  over  the  territory  to  be  worked  and  how  he  would 
gather  them  together  again.  If  I  asked  him,  or  her,  what 
they  would  do  if  one  were  missing,  they  would  reply  that  they 
would  not  leave  the  district  until  that  one  was  found.  The 
consequence  was  that  in  fourteen  days,  these  three  thousand, 
and  perhaps  a  thousand  more  that  joined  us  in  New  York, 
visited  every  house,  business  place,  every  ship  and  every  sec- 
tion of  New  York,  and  delivered  4,200,000  little  printed  mes- 
sages, with  the  kind  words  given  by  Christ  '  Peace  be  to  this 
house.' 

ZION  City.  Illinois;  October  1st,  1903. 

To  the  People  of  New  York:— 

In  the  Name  of  the  Christ,  the  King  of  Kings,  I  greet  you  with  His 
Message— Peace  be  to  this  House,  and  send  you  these  words: 

As  Elijah  the  Restorer,  accompanied  by  a  Legion  of  Three  Thousand 
Messengers  of  Zion  Restoration  Host,  I  have  arranged  for  a  Visitation  of 
your  City  from  Lord's  Day,  October  18,  to  November  1st,  in  Madison 
Square  Garden,  and  on  November  3,  5,  6  and  8  in  Carnegie  Hall. 

Beneath  the  Banner  of  the  Christian  Catholic  Church  in  Zion,  and  the 
Stars  and  Stripes,  I  shall  proclaim  — 

(1)  The  Everlasting  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

(2)  Repentance,  Restitution,  Salvation;  Healing  and  Holy  Living. 

(3)  Baptism  by  Tri-une  Immersion. 

(4)  Obedience,  the  Eleven  Commandments  and  the  Law  of  Love. 

(5)  Christian  Union  and  Co-operation  in  Church,  Home,  Business  and 

State. 

(6)  The  Downfall  of  all  forms  of  Apostacy,  Secrecy  and  Tyranny. 

(7)  "The  Restoration  of  all  things. -(Acts  3:19-26). 
All  who  come  will  be  heartily  welcome. 

Faithfully  your  friend  and  God's  servant, 

JOHN  ALEX.  DOWIE. 


PROPAGANDA 


105 


This  is  a  sample  of  the  way  Mr.  Dowie  has  pushed  Zion's 
evangelistic  work.  I  was  present  in  Zion  City  at  an  after- 
noon service  when  he  was  giving  general  instructions  for  the 
visitation,  and  marvelled  at  the  grasp  of  detail  that  he  had, 
and  the  apparent  reach  of  his  information. 

The  dividing  of  Chicago  into  parishes  and  the  thorough- 
ness with  which  the  city  has  been  canvassed  also  witness  to 
his  organizing  skill  and  give  a  partial  explanation  as  to  why 
Chicago,  from  the  beginning  of  his  work  there,  has  yielded 
him  so  many  followers. 

There  is  the  general  assembly  held  at  Central  Zion  Taber-' 
nacle,  Michigan  Avenue  and  i6th  Street,  Sundays  at  three 
p.  m.,  which  all  the  Chicago  members  attend  more  or  less 
regularly.  It  is  a  means  of  preserving  the  esprit  de  corp  of 
the  Zion  movement  in  Chicago.  There  were  eight  parishes 
in  Chicago  (December,  1905)  dividing  the  cit^-;  .Central,  West, 
Northwest,  North  German,  Northeast,  South,  and  West  Ger- 
man, in  charge  of  an  elder  with  services  morning  and  evening 
of  Sunday,  and  a  midweek  service.  A  divine  healing  meeting 
for  teaching  and  healing  is  held  in  nearly  all  the  parishes  by 
regular  appointment.  The  elders  in  charge  of  a  parish  serve 
a  longer  or  shorter  term  as  the  work  may  demand,  but  a  sys- 
tem of  pastoral  changes  has  been  followed  for  the  most  part."^ 
Each  parish  is  thoroughly  organized  and  is  in  close  touch 
with  the  central  authority  at  Zion  City,  where  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal secretary  keeps  all  important  affairs  recorded,  and  comes 
to  know  the  details  of  each  parish  from  the  elder  in  charge. 
All  these  records  and  information  have  been  immediately  ac- 
cessible to  Mr.  Dowie  who  could  know  in  a  moment  the 
standing  of  every  parish,  could  see  the  progress  made  by  the 
elder  in  charge,  the  wealth  represented,  and  any  item  which 
would  be  of  use  in  keeping  his  hand  upon  affairs.  '  He  has 
been  generous  enough  with  the  church  monej's  to  provide 
fairly  competent  men  for  these  parishes,  and  it  has  been  they 

*  Mr.  Dowie  has  always  kept  in  the  leading  place  in  Zion  affections  so 
far  as  he  could. 


io6  JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 

who  have  borne  the  burden  of  the  work  of  spreading  Zion 
views  in  the  great  city  of  Chicago. 

The  organization  of  one  of  these  parishes  as  explained  to 
me  by  the  elder  in  charge  is  as  follows :  It  covers  approxi- 
mately sixteen  square  miles  and  is  divided  into  sixteen  sec- 
tions, each  section  being  subdivided  into  sixteen  districts  with 
a  deaconess  in  charge.  These  deaconesses  do  what  is  known 
as  "seventy  work" — going  two  and  two  to  look  out  prospect- 
ive members,  to  visit  the  sick,  and  to  distribute  or  sell  litera- 
ture. They  fill  in  reports  for  the  elder  who  visits  wherever 
especially  needed.  They  get  applications  for  membership 
signed,  to  be  examined  and  passed  upon  by  the  elder  and  sent 
to  headquarters. 

The  elder  in  charge  has  the  full  right  of  discipline  and  the 
entire  organization  is  back  of  him.  He  "brings  people  to 
repentance,"  which  means  substantially  that  the  people  are 
compelled  to  live  in  accord  with  the  Zion  strict  legalistic  code 
of  ethics  based  on  the  Bible.  The  elder  sees  that  the  tithes 
are  collected  and  sent  to  headquarters,  and  his  salary  and  ex- 
penses of  the  parish,  are  checked  back  to  him.  This  is  sub- 
stantially the  idea  of  organization  wherever  a  Zion  branch 
exists.  Through  the  tithes  and  offerings  of  the  people  which 
during  1905  amounted  to  about  $1000 *a  day,  the  expenses 
of  keeping  the  machinery  of  organization  running  is  met. 

The  spread  of  Zion  teaching  in  other  parts  of  the  world, 
apart  from  Mr.  Dowie's  personal  work,  has  been  as  we  have 
said,  by  means  of  Leaves  of  Healing  and  the  individual  mem- 
ber. But  special  evangelists  have  also  been  used  and  mis- 
sions have  been  conducted  in  various  places.  In  some  places 
by  one  series  of  services  people  have  been  won  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  be  formed  into  a  branch.  As  opportunity  offered 
and  necessity  arose,  buildings  were  rented  for  the  establish- 
ing of  stations,  or  at  least  for  the  holding  of  missions.  When 

*This  has  been  denied  and  affirmed  by  Zion  people.  The  amount  is 
too  large  for  an  average  through  the  year,  but  has  been  reached  on  some 
days. 


PROPAGANDA  107 

of  sufficient  importance  as  a  branch  of  Zion,  an  elder  was 
sent  to  take  charge,  organize  and  extend  the  influence  of  Zion, 
or  as  they  are  pleased  to  say,  the  Kingdom  of  God.  For  ex- 
ample the  work  at  Hammond,  Ind.,  or  Bluffton,  O.,  or  Cin- 
cinnati, O.,  or  London,  Eng.,  or  Johannesburg,  South  Africa, 
or  Melbourne,  Australia.  In  whatever  place  people  who 
sympathized  with  Zion  made  themselves  known,  some  way 
was  devised  to  make  them  a  distributing  center  of  Zion  teach- 
ing. In  any  case  they  were  made  a  member  of  the  parent 
church  at  Zion  City,  and  a  further  unit  of  propagandism.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  these  evangelists  have  met  with  a  varying 
reception  and  success  according  to  the  temper  of  the  commu- 
nity to  which  the\'  have  gone,  but  persecution  has  seldom 
daunted  them.  They  are  usually  capable  of  meeting  any 
opposition  of  an  argumentative  sort  b\-  tightly  clinched  Bible 
arguments  with  which  they  are  so  perfectly  familiar  as  to 
make  their  opponents  seem  unlearned  in  the  Scriptures,  when 
one  attempts  public  refutation.  This  all  of  course  upon  a 
literal  authoritative  basis  of  Scripture  interpretation  as  we 
have  before  noticed. 

A  Zion  evangelist  gave  me  a  sample  of  the  argumentation 
he  had  used  to  overcome  prejudice  and  unbelief  with  respect 
to  the  doctrine  of  divine  healing.  Its  plausibility  would  over- 
come some  and  at  least  start  trains  of  reflection  which  would 
bother  many. 

1  "The  objection  is  raised  'all  are  not  healed.'  I  answer, 
'Neither  are  all  saved.'  " 

2  "Greatest  cases  of  sickness  are  rarely  healed."  Ans- 
wer, "Greatest  sinners,  for  example,  are  seldom  saved." 

3  "You  pray  for  people  who  do  not  meet  the  conditions." 
Answer,  "I  do  the  same  for  people  who  do  not  meet  the 
conditions  of  salvation — I  can  not  know — that  is  their  fault." 

4  "  Is  it  God's  will  to  heal  all?"  Answer,  "is  it  God's 
will  to  save  all  ?" 

5  "Some  become  sick  again."  Answer,  "Some  become 
sinners  again." 


;o8 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


6  "  Some  die  while  you  are  pra3'ing-  for  them."  Answer, 
"Some  are  lost  while  we  are  pra^'ing  for  them." 

7  "Some  never  get  faith  for  healing."  Answer,  "Some 
never  get  faith  for  salvation." 

8  "  Some  renounce  their  faith  in  divine  healing."  Answer, 
Some  renoimce  their  faith  in  salvation." 

9  "How  do  I  know  who  is  right?"  Answer,  "Same 
for  salvation — what  do  the  Scriptures  gav  ?" 

10  People  make  the  same  excuse  not  to  be  healed  as  they 
do  not  to  get  saved. 

11  The  Kingdom  of  God  has  come  for  Body  same  as  for 
Spirit.     I.  Thess.  5:24. 

12  "  It  takes  such  wonderful  faith  to  be  healed."  Answer, 
"Same  for  salvation." 

.  13  Men  are  lost  by  sin  also  made  sick  by  sin.  Same 
cure — the  atonement  of  Christ. 

14  "Many  healed  but  die."  Answer,  "Many  saved  but 
die." 

15  "God  sends  doctors  to  heal."  Answer,  "Then  he 
sends  moral  doctors  to  save,  no  need  of  Christ.  Absurdity, 
blasphemy." 

And  so  it  runs.  A  forceful  speaker  well  equipped  with  a 
few  Scripture  verses  arranged  in  an  orderly  way  and  really 
believing  in  the  doctrines  himself  wouldn't  have  great  trouble 
in  convincing  some,  especially  where  the  point  of  contact 
which  we  have  discussed  was  possible  at  all. 

Some  of  the  men  chosen  by  Mr.  Dowie  to  conduct  these 
branches  and  do  the  evangelistic  work,  have  been  men  of 
considerable  ability  and  devotion  to  the  cause  the^'  represent. 
Overseer  Voliva  in  Australia  had  very  good  success  in  fur- 
thering Zion's  interests  in  that  distant  land,  and  was  instru- 
mental in  sending  a  large  number  to  Zion  City.  It  remains 
to  be  seen  how  competent  he  is  to  administer  the  affairs  of  a 
revolting  Zion. 

Others  also  have  had  good  success,  and  with  the  far  away 
vision  of  a  beautiful,  clean  and  Godly  city  to  conjure  with,  and 


PROPAGANDA 


109 


a  firm  belief  in  Mr.  Dowie  and  the  triumph  of  Zion  to  furnish 
inspiration,  have  spread  their  teaching  far  and  wide,  and 
gathered  recruits  from  many  places. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


DIVINE   HEALING   OF  ZION. 

We  have  used  the  expression  "divine  healing"  frequently, 
as  describing  the  therapeutical  agency  made  use  of  by  the 
founder  of  Zion  in  establishing  and  furthering  his  organiza- 
tion, and  have  indicated  that  it  was  the  chief  point  of  contact 
with  those  who  were  accessible  to  Zion.  It  now  remains  to 
examine  more  closely  just  what  is  meant  by  divine  healing, 
how  it  comes  to  take  such  strong  hold  of  some  minds  as  an 
article  of  faith,  how  it  is  related  to  or  differs  from  other  drug- 
less  remedies  (if  it  does),  and  what  explanation  scientists, 
especially  psychologists,  have  to  offer  for  the  phenomena  in 
connection  with  it. 

Faith  in  "faith  cures"  has  come  to  be  almost  a  fad.  It  may 
be  referred  to  as  the  Mind-Cure  Movement,  and  will  thus  take 
in  Christian  Science  and  the  independent  mental  healers  who 
are  its  offspring,  faith  healers  of  all  sorts,  the  divine  healing 
teaching  and  practice  of  Mr.  Dowie,  and  mental  therapeutics 
as  such.  It  is  a  movement  almost  entirely  outside  regularly 
organized  Christianity  and  in  open  conflict  with  evangelical 
Protestantism  at  almost  every  point.  Prof.  James  savs,  * 
"Within  the  churches  a  disposition  has  always  prevailed  to 
regard  sickness  as  a  visitation:  something  sent  for  good, 
either  as  chastisement,  as  warning,  or  as  opportunit}-  of  exer- 
cising virtue,  and,  in  the  Catholic  church,  of  earning  'merit.' 
'  Illness,'  says  a  good  Catholic  writer  (P.  Lejeune:  Introd.  a 
la  Vie  Mystique,  1899,  p.  218),  *  is  the  most  excellent  of  cor- 
poreal mortifications,  the  mortification  which  one  has  not 
one's  self  chosen,  which  is  imposed  directly  hy  God,  and  is 
the  direct  expression  of  His  will.'    According  to  this  view 

*  Varieties  of  Religious  Experiences,  p.  113. 


Dn'INP:  HEALING  OF  ZION 


III 


disease  should  in  any  case  be  submissively  accepted,  and  it 
might  under  certain  circumstances  even  be  blasphemous  to 
wish  it  away." 

That  this  is  practically  the  attitude  of  Protestant  Christi- 
anity the  multitude  of  pulpit  polemics  against  Christian  Sci- 
ence and  Mr.  Dowie  bear  abundant  witness. 

Prof.  James  says  further,  "Of  course  there  have  been  ex- 
ceptions to  this  and  cures  by  special  miracle  have  at  all  times 
been  recognized  within  the  church's  pale:  almost  all  the  great 
saints  having  more  or  less  performed  them.  It  is  one  of  the 
heresies  of  Edward  Irving  to  maintain  them  still  to  be  possi- 
ble." It  might  be  added  that  this  is  one  of  the  numerous 
heresies  of  Mormonism  as  well,  and  of  various  smaller  sects 
in  different  parts  of  the  world  to-day.  That  the  age  of  mira- 
cles has  passed,  that  is,  miracles  oi  healing  as  such,  is  the 
all  but  universal  belief  or  rather  attitude  of  Protestantism  in 
the  first  decade  of  the  20th  century. 

With  almost  spontaneous  simultaneousness  different  forms 
of  denial  of  this  belief  have  sprung  up  and  for  the  past  gene- 
ration have  made  and  are  making  great  headwaj'.  The  Mind- 
Cure  Movement  is  one  that  has  to  be  reckoned  with  because 
of  its  philosophical,  psychological,  religious  and  therapeutical 
significance.  Christian  Science  claims  100,000  devotees  and 
the  New  Thought  is  permeating  nearly  all  popular  literature; 
not  to  speak  of  the  many  thousands  who  have  directly  or  indi- 
rectly been  affected  by  Mr.  Dowie's  more  technically  religious 
divine  healing  teaching,  and  the  teaching  of  others  holding 
substantially  the  same  ideas. 

It  is  a  revolt  against  the  powerlessness  of  the  Christian 
church  or  its  unwillingness  to  mediate  help  and  health  to  the 
present  life.  Again  quoting  from  Prof.  James,*  "in  Mind- 
Cure  circles  the  fundamental  article  of  faith  is  that  disease 
should  never  be  accepted.  It  is  wholly  of  the  pit,  God  wants 
us  to  be  absolutely  healthy  and  we  should  not  tolerate  our- 
selves on  any  lower  basis." 

*Op.  cit.  p.  113. 


I  12 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


It  would  be  objected  by  believers  in  divine  healing  as  such 
that  they  are  not  to  be  classified  in  this  way.  Mr.  Dowie 
has  taken  pains  to  denounce  all  other  sects  of  mind  curers  as 
"diabolical  counterfeiters"  of  his  own  exclusively  divine  heal- 
ing, but  he  really  "must  on  the  whole  be  counted  into  the 
Mind-Cure  Movement."    So  Prof.  James. 

There  is  one  surface  difference  certainly  and  in  the  indica- 
ting of  that  we  begin  our  definition  of  divine  healing  as  held 
by  Mr.  Dowie.  He  regards  sin  and  disease  as  realities  *  to 
be  removed  by  direct  divine  interposition  in  answer  to  the 
prayer  of  faith  which  effects  this  display  of  divhie  power. 
"Not  healing  by  faith  but  through  faith;  through  faith  in 
Jesus  by  the  power  of  God,"  he  says,  t  It  is  not  by  subject- 
ive influences  alone,  but  by  the  active  operation  of  the  power 
of  God,  that  the  healing  comes  according  to  his  theory.  Other 
phases  of  the  Mind-Cure  Movement  speak  of  sin  and  disease 
as  errors  of  the  mortal  mind,  nonentities,  unrealities,  origina- 
ting in  error  ;  to  be  removed  by  becoming  convinced  they  do 
not  exist.  Mr.  Dowie  posits  a  devil  or  devils  as  corrupting 
the  body  with  actual  sin  and  disease,  to  be  routed  and  put  to 
flight  by  the  power  of  the  spirit  of  God  in  accordance  with 
the  written  Word. 

The  . outline  of  Mr.  Dowie's  theory  of  healing  as  he  has 
published  it  in  almost  every  issue  of  L.  of  H.  is  as  follows; 

GOD'S  WAY  OF  HEALING. 
GOD'S  WAY  OF  HEALING  IS  A  PKRSON,  NOT  A  THING. 

Jesus  said  "i  am  the  way,  and  the  Truth,  and  the  Life,"  and  He  has 
ever  been  revealed  to  His  people  in  all  the  ages  by  the  Covenant 
Name,  Jehovah-Rophi,  or  "  1  am  Jehovah  that  Healeth  thee." 
(John  14:6;  Exodus  15;26). 

THE  LORD  JESUS,  THE  CHRIST,  IS  STILL  THE  HEALER. 

He  cannot  change,  for  "Jesus,  the  Christ,  is  the  same  yesterday  and 
to-day,  yea  and  forever;"  and  he  is  still  with  us,  for  He  said;  "Lo,  1 
am  with  you  all  the  Days,  even  unto  the  Consummation  of  the  Age." 

*See  later  discussion  under  Doctrine. 

t  Pamphlet,  Talks  with  Ministers  on  Divine  Healing. 


DIVINE  HEALING  OF  ZION 


113 


(Hebrews  1^:8;  Matthew  28:20).  Because  He  is  Unchangeable,  and 
because  He  is  present,  in  spirit;  just  as  when  in  the  tlesh.  He  is  the 
Healer  ot  His  people. 

DIVINE  HEALING  RESTS  ON  THE  CHRIST'S  ATONEMENT. 

It  was  prophesied  of  Him,  "Surely  He  hath  borne  our  griefs  (Hebrew, 
sickness,)  and  carried  our  sorrows:  .  .  .  and  with  His  stripes  we 
are  healed;"  and  it  is  expressly  declared  that  this  was  fulfilled  in  His 
Ministry  of  Healing,  which  still  continues.  (Isaiah  S^:4,  S;  Matthew 
8:17.) 

Disease  Can  never  be  God's  Will. 

It  is  the  Devil's  work,  consequent  upon  Sin,  and  it  is  impossible  for 
the  work  of  the  Devil  ever  to  be  the  Will  of  God.  The  Christ  came 
to  "destroy  the  works  of  the  Devil,"  and  when  He  was  here  on  earth 
He  healed  "all  manner  of  disease  and  all  manner  of  sickness,"  and  all 
these  sufferers  are  expressly  declared  to  have  been  "oppressed  of  the 
Devil."    (1  John  3:8;  Matthew  4:23;  Acts  10:38). 

The  Gifts  of  Healing  Are  Permanent. 

It  is  expressly  declared  that  the  "Gifts  and  the  calling  of  God  are 
without  repentance,"  and  the  Gifts  of  Healing  are  amongst  the  Nine 
Gifts  of  the  Spirit  to  the  Church.  (Romans  1 1 :29;  1  Corinthians 
12:8-11). 

THERE  ARE  FOUR  MODES  OF  DIVINE  HEALING. 

The  first  is  the  direct  prayer  of  faith;  the  second,  intercessory  prayer 
of  two  or  more;  the  third,  the  annointing  of  the  elders,  with  the  prayer 
of  faith;  and  the  fourth,  the  laying  on  of  hands  of  those  who  believe, 
and  whom  God  has  prepared  and  called  to  that  ministry.  (Matthew 
8:5-13;  Matthew  18:19;  James  S:14,  IS;  Mark  16:18.) 

In  his  addresses  he  emphasizes  two  points.*  First,  that 
Jesus  is  unchanged  in  power  and  will.  That  he  is  as  much 
present  in  power  and  in  spirit  to-day  as  when  he  stood  in  the 
flesh  upon  the  earth.  "This  being  so  we  have  ever  presented 
in  our  teaching  that  He  is  able,  that  He  is  willing,  that  He  is 
present,  and  that  He  is  longing  to  heal  His  people  as  in  the 
days  of  His  flesh."  Second,  (under  the  necessity  of  repiti- 
tion)  that  disease  is  God's  enem}^  and  the  devil's  work,  and 
can  never  be  God's  will.  "When  Jesus  heals  he  is  not  un- 
doing the  work  of  the  Father,  but  the  work  of  Satan.  The 

*  See  Talks  with  Ministers  on  Divine  Healing,  p.  3  ff. 


114 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


will  of  God  is  to  heal  now,  as  it  was  centuries  aj^o,  all  who  be- 
lieve. .  .  We  teach  also  'the  redemption  of  the  body,'  (Rom. 
8:20  that  the  life  also  of  Jesus  may  be  manifested  in  our 
mortal  Hesh'  (  2  Cor.  4:11).  This  redemption  of  the  body  was 
never  taught  by  Jesus  as  something  belonging  to  the  hereaf- 
ter. He  taught  that  this  was  to  be  the  continuous  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  all  ages.  .  .  .  We  have  no  teaching  outside 
of  the  Word  of  God  in  this  matter.  We  do  not  present  our 
theories,  we  hold  fast  to  Jesus'  words." 

This  has  an  element  of  po])ularity,  in  that  it  is  hitched  on 
to  the  traditional  orthodoxy  of  Protestantism.  It  would  be 
a  difficult  task  indeed  to  combat  the  theory  upon  Mr.  Dowie's 
own  ground,  and  it  would  seem  that  the  inconsistency  lies 
with  the  churches  which  deny  the  ptesent  power  of  Jesus  to 
heal  when  acknowledging  his  presence  to  bless  and  give  moral 
guidance. 

There  is  a  transition  from  theory  to  practice  which  we  must 
notice  in  our  analysis  of  Mr.  Dowie's  position.  He  quotes, 
"They  cry  unto  the  Lord  in  their  trouble,  and  he  saveth  them 
out  of  their  distresses,"  (Ps.  107:6)  and  says,  "and  we  do 
not  believe  that  he  does  this  by  pills  and  potions  and  plasters, 
but,  'he  sendeth  forth  his  word  and  healeth  them,  and  deliv- 
ereth  them.' "  (Ps.  io7:i7ff.).* 

Mr.  Dowie  further,  "And  so  the  whole  mission  is  first  of 
all  a  teaching  mission,  and  is  based  on  the  Word  of  God. 
We  therefore  present  that  word  as  fully  as  we  can  always  re- 
membering that  this  was  the  way  in  which  Christ  carried  out 
His   great  earthly  mission.      He  taught,   he   preached,  he 

*  It  might  suffice  on  this  point  to  say  that  Mr.  Dowie  in  theory  has 
been  opposed  to  doctors  and  drugs  as  have  the  Christian  Science  people— 
holaing  that  it  is  distrusting  God  to  resort  to  their  use.  His  consistency 
has  been  questioned  as  he  has  had  the  services  of  a  phvsician  at  least  to 
diagnose  cases  at  different  times.  This  licensed  medical  doctor,  Mr. 
Speicher,  has  been  associated  with  him  since  the  beginning  of  his  Chi- 
cago work.  Dentists  ply  their  trade  in  Zion  City  and  it  is  reported  that 
in  addition  to  having  his  teeth  cared  for  he  has  employed  an  occulist  for 
his  diseased  eyes. 


DIVINE  HEALING  OF  ZION  115 

healed.  Matthew  4:25  and  9:35  have  exactly  the  same 
phraseolos>v.  '  Jesus  went  about  all  the  cities  and  vil- 
lages, teaching  in  their  synagogues,  and  preaching  the  gos- 
pel of  the  Kingdom,  and  healing  all  manner  of  diseases 
and  all  manner  of  sickness.'  Teaching  came  first.  That 
is  the  divine  order  in  which  it  was  ever  put  and  the  King- 
dom of  God  can  only  be  extended  hy  that  three-fold  min- 
istry. .  .  .  We  have  found  in  connection  with  this  beautiful 
fact  of  the  gospel  of  divine  healing  that  it  is  put  after  salva- 
tion. .  .  .  We  remind  our  readers  that  it  is  written,  'Bless 
the  Lord,  Oh  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits  :  Who 
forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities  ;  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases,' 
(Ps.  103:2,  3).  Forgiveness  first  and  healing  second.  Jesus 
put  it  in  the  same  order  :  'Son,  be  of  good  cheer:  thy  sins 
are  forgiven,'  preceded  'arise,  and  take  up  thy  bed,  and  go 
unto  thine  house,"  (Matt.  9:1-7). 

"So  we  have  taught  that  God  requires  saving  faith  on  the 
part  of  those  who  come  to  seek  him  for  healing.  There  must 
first  be  a  surrender  of  the  spirit,  and  a  reception  of  Christ  as 
Saviour  from  sin,  and  that  is  the  sine  ((ua  non,  a  condition 
without  which  we  can  not  ask  the  Lord  acce]itably  for  heal- 
ing. \\'e  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  those  who  will 
not  first  receive  Christ  as  Saviour.  Divine  healing  is  the 
children's  bread  and  it  can  not  be  given  to  those  who  are  wil- 
fully children  of  the  Devil,  for  these  can  not  exercise  faith." 

The  real  point  is  that  the  teaching  is  a  part  of  the  healing- 
process,  and  here,  perhaps  instinctively,  Mr.  Dowie  and  di.- 
vine  healers  are  in  accord,  in  the  underlying  principle  of  ope- 
ration at  least,  with  Christian  Scientists  who  hold  readings 
and  give  instructions  as  a  basis  of  healing. 

With  this  method  of  procedure,  agree  substantially  all  the 
testimonies  of  those  for  whom  Mr.  Dowie  has  been  the  agency 
of  healing.  *  Zion's  people  delight  to  honor  the  ''teaching," 
and  to  those  who  doubt  they  say  in  substance,   "you  would 

*See  Chapters,  Point  of  Contact,  and  People  of  Zion.  also  testimonials 
in  L.  of  H. 


ii6 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


see  it  if  you  would  come  and  get  some  of  the  teaching." 
There  is  just  a  suggestion  of  something  mysterious  or  eso- 
teric here  and  the  "teaching"  is  regarded  more  or  less  rever- 
ently as  something  in  itself  possessed  of  efficacy. 

The  teaching  represents  among  other  things,  repentance, 
which  means  a  forsaking  of  known  sin  and  a  restitution  or 
making  right  of  all  wrongs  so  far  as  possible,  with  a  seeing 
and  receiving  of  Christ  *  This  has  been  the  method  of  prepa- 
ration to  receive  the  blessing,  at  least  for  those  who  receive  it 
consciously,  and  it  puts. the  subject  in  a  position  of  mental 
submission  to  the  healer  as  a  voicer  of  God's  requirements. 
We  must  keep  this  in  mind  as  we  proceed  in  order  to  be  able 
to  arrive  at  an  understanding  of  the  underlying  law  of  Mr. 
Dowie's  practice,  t 

"Receptive  faith,"  says  Mr.  Dowie,  "must  be  followed  bv 
a  retentive  faith,  a  faith  which  holds  fast  to  Christ,"  (psy- 
chologically— fixity  of  attention).  "That  is  followed  by  act- 
ive faith;  a  true  Christian  must  work  for  Christ."  This 
simply  serves  to  intensify  the  idea  of  submission  on  the  active 
side.  "Active  faith  must  be  followed  by  passive  faith,  the 
highest  and  yet  the  lowliest,  form — a  strong  Christian  calmh^ 
resting  in  the  Lord.  It  is  not  in  our  seeing,  our  receiving, 
our  holding  fast,  or  our  working  that  the  power  lies  ;  power 
comes  to  him  who  is  fully  resting  in  the  Lord."  In  the  report 
of  sworn  testimonj'  given  in  the  Justice  Court  of  Hyde  Park, 
Chicago,  t  Mr.  Dowie  is  questioned  and  answers  as  follows: 

*  "I  understand  the  general  conditions  to  be  repentance  and  restoration 
as  far  as  possible  where  wrongs  have  been  committed  against  others."— 
Personal  letter  to  me  from  Zion  officer. 

t  "Getting  right  with  God,"  is  a  favorite  phrase  in  Zion.  1  have  heard 
it  in  the  devotional  meetings  many  times,  and  once  in  a  meeting  a  young 
girl  in  a  wheel  chair  was  seeking  healing  and  this  was  about  all  the 
leader  had  to  say  to  her,  "submit  entirely  toGod  and  get  right  with  him." 
The  words  "submit  entirely"  are  significant  for  all  faith  healings  whether 
by  mental  therapeutics,  hypnotism,  suggestion,  or  Christian  Science. 

JCase,  City  of  Chicago  vs.  John  Alexander  Dowie,  before  Justice 
Quinn,  June  19,  189S. 


DIVINE  HEALING  OF  ZION 


Q.  "Do  you  ever  pray  with  anyone  who  is  not  a  Christian 
and  who  does  not  profess  to  be  ? 

A.  Never.  I  teach  in  the  Tabernacle  with  a  view  of  bring- 
int;-  men  and  women  to  repentance.  Then  I  teach  them  to 
have  faith  in  Christ  for  salvation,  and  then  in  Christ  for  heal- 
ing. We  require  absolutelv  that  no  person  shall  apply  to  be 
admitted  in  the  healing  room  who  is  not  a  Christian,  and  any 
persons  who  enter  that  room,  enter  it  telling  a  lie,  if  they  are 
not  Christians. 

O.  Do  you  remember  Mr.  Kehoe  ? 

A.  I  do.  I  always  ask  two  questions  in  the  healing  room 
in  the  tabernacle,  which  contains  seventy  at  a  time.  The 
people  are  admitted  by  tickets  given  away  gratuitously  and 
only  to  professing  Christians.  I  ask  first,  *  So  far  as  3'ou 
know  your  own  heart,  have  you  repented  of  3'our  sins  and 
given  yourself  entirely  to  God  in  the  name  of  Jesus  for  salva- 
tion ?'  Then  comes  the  response,  'Yes  sir.'  Are  you  de- 
termined by  his  grace  to  rest  in  him  alone  for  healing  ?  '  Yes 
sir.'  Then  I  usually  say,  'Are  there  any  here  who  are  not 
Christians  ?  If  so  you  know  that  you  are  here  under  false 
pretenses,  that  God,  therefore,  can  not  bless  }'ou,  and  you 
are  required  at  once. to  leave  if  you  are  deceiving.'  " 

Two  things  are  seen  to  be  essential  and  have  been  found 
to  be  efficacious.  The  real  analysis,  however  plausible  that 
ot  Mr.  Dowie  may  seem,  is,  (a)  fixitv,  or  concentration  of 
attention,  (b)  submission.    Thus  the  patient  is  prepared. 

There  is  also  a  relation  between  the  specific  sort  of  prepara- 
tion, which  is  truly  religious  (in  this  sense  rightly  divine), 
based  upon  a  certain  form  of  teaching,  and  the  actual  object- 
ive practice  of  divine  healers  of  the  Mr.  Dowie  class.  Disease 
is  conceived  of  as  a  reality  and  inheres  as  such  in  the  body. 
God  is  conceived  of  vividly  as  an  objective  entity  and  exerts 
the  sort  of  power  that  can  remove  this  disease  directly  by  his 
touch,  or  immediate  influence  of  his  spirit.  We  would  natur- 
ally expect  the  practices  of  the  healer  to  be  adapted  to  this 
belief,  rather  than  to  accord  with  that  of  the  Christian  Sci- 


ii8  JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


ence  practitioner,  for  example,  whose  presuppositions  with 
regard  to  the  underlying  cause  of  disease  and  healing  are  so 
different.    And  it  is  so. 

Of  the  four  modes  of  healing  which  Mr.  Dowie  says  are 
scriptural,  two,  '  the  anointing  of  the  elders,  with  the  praj-er 
of  faith,  and  the  laying  on  of  hands  of  those  who  believe  and 
whom  God  has  prepared  and  called  to  that  ministry,"  are 
definitely  objective,  and  correspond  to  the  kind  of  expec- 
tancy which  the  teaching  has  created  in  the  mind  of  the  pa- 
tient. Mr.  Dowie  and  his  elders  have  practiced  these  two 
forms,  and  a  majority  of  the  testimonies  would  show  that 
laj'ing  on  of  hands  had  been  resorted  to  especially  in  the 
earlier  and  more  fruitful  ministry  of  Mr-.  Dowie.  * 

He  says  himself  that  the  majority  need  teaching,  which  in- 
dicates that  he  or  some  one  capable  of  instructing  and  prac- 
ticing the  ministry  of  healing  needs  to  be  with  the  patient. 
In  all  cases  so  far  as  I  know  the  usual  practice  when  the 
patient  is  present,  has  been  prayer  with  the  laying  on  of 
hands,  altho  I  have  only  attended  a  few  healing  meetings  and 
never  was  so  fortunate  as  to  see  any  one  healed. 

In  the  court  proceedings  referred  to,  a  witness,  Mr.  Shel- 
drake, testifies  as  follows  :  t 

CROSS  KXAMINATON. 

Q.  "You  didn't  go  there  for  the  purpose  of  taking  the  treat- 
ment yourself  ? 
A.  I  did  not. 

Q.  You  found  people  there  who  were  trying  to  get  cured  of 
diseases  ? 
A.  Yes  sir. 

Q.  And  they  remained  there  ? 

A.  They  lived  there  while  I  was  there. 

*  Almost  all  Zion  people  confess  that  in  the  eaiiier  years  of  his  minis- 
try greater  power  was  manifested.  After  Mr.  Dowie  became  wealthy 
and  careless  he  was  shorn  of  power. 

\  See  above,  p.  1 16. 


DIVINE  HEALING  OF  ZION 


119 


Q.  Does  the  doctor  come  and  pray  with  them  in  the  homes, 
or  in  the  Tabernacle  only  ? 

A.  He  prays  with  those  in  the  homes.  He  prays  with  the 
people  who  come  from  the  outside,  and  also  from  the  homes, 
in  the  Tabernacle. 

Q.  My  question  was  whether  he  prayed  in  the  homes  or  in 
the  Tabernacle  only  ? 

A.  Both  in  the  homes  and  in  the  Tabernacle. 

Q.  Did  you  see  Dr.  Dowie.  at  any  time  when  he  prayed 
with  the  sick  lay  his  hands  on  their  heads  ? 

A.  I  did. 

Q.  Does  he  every  time  he  jjrays  with  the  sick  ? 
A.  Every  time  I  saw  him. 

O.  Will  you  please  explain  to  the  jury  how  he  places  his 
hands  ? 

A.  He  places  his  hands  on  the  head,  touches  the  eyes 
liijhtly,  ears,  and  back  of  the  neck  :  or  the  part  affected,  gen- 
erally. If  it  is  a  paralyzed  arm  he  strokes  his  hands  gently 
down  the  arm.    Or  on  the  parts  affected." 

With  this  discussion  of  theory  and  practice  in  divine  heal- 
ing as  represented  by  Mr.  Dowie  before  us,  we  defer  coming 
to  our  final  conclusions,  in  order  to  notice  some  of  the  results 
and  reports  of  healings.  Much  sifting  must  be  done  here, 
and  the  task  seems  almost  hopeless.  If  we  could  take  at  face 
value  all  the  reports  of  cures  and  printed  testimony  which 
^Ir.  Dowie  has  edited  and  issued,  our  work  would  be  simpli- 
fied. But  his  career  is  shadowed  bv  falsehood  and  deceit, 
clever  trickery  and  misrepresentation,  as  indicated  in  our 
other  chapters,  and  in  the  printed  confession  of  Deacon  New- 
comb.  One  says  +  of  a  prominent  case  of  reputed  healing 
by  Dr.  Dowie  rei)orted  in  L.  of  H.,  Vol.  Ill  No.  "Miss 
Markley's  (now  Mrs.  Pii>er)  healing  was  reported  in  such  a 
way  as  to  deceive  all  who  read  it.  All  believed  the  healing 
was  complete  until  they  saw  the  girl,  when  the\  found  that  she 

*  See  Leaves  of  Healing,  April  7.  1906. 

I  Tract— "Dowieism  Exposed,"  Elder  I.  C.  Bowman.  Phila..  Pa. 


I20 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


was  as  lame  as  ever.  This  was  a  great  disappointment  to 
me  as  well  as  to  many  of  my  church.  I  felt  sure  it  was  not 
rijiht  to  practice  this  kind  of  deception  through  a  religious 
paper  to  make  the  Lord's  work  go.  After  talking  with  Miss 
Markley  I  tried  to  accept  her  statement,  also  tried  to  satisfy 
and  pacify  all  the  best  I  could.  I  always  felt  some  misgiv- 
ings about  such  a  '  botched  job,'  but  much  more  about  cover- 
ing up  the  facts.  They  told  me  that  Dowie  said  that  nature 
would  have  to  have  its  time  for  the  bone  to  grow  in  below  the 
ankle  :  later  some  of  them  said  that  'Dr'.  Dowie  did  not  know 
anything  about  the  defective  ankle  when  he  prayed.  What- 
ever the  reason  may  be  with  all  their  boastings  of  her  won- 
derful healing  she  is  not  healed,  but  limps  to  the  present 
time."  He  says  further,  "If  all  were  approximately  true 
(yet  I  know  they  are  not),  they  are  purposely  given  so  as  to 
deceive  the  masses  of  people.  He  uses  cunning,  worldly, 
dishonest  methods  to  succeed.  Anyone  who  may  doubt  what 
I  sa\",  let  him  do  as  many  of  us  have  done  —  sit  down  and 
write  to  a  number  whose  names  and  addresses  are  given  in 
the  L.  of  H.  and  he  will  find  the  truthfulness  of  what  I  sa\'. 
The  first  time  I  visited  the  Home  I  expected  to  see  many 
healed.  I  was  there  for  three  days,  saw  him  pray  for  hundreds, 
but  did  not  see  a  marked  healing.  I  have  been  there  several 
times  since,  and  in  all  this  time  not  one  was  healed." 

What  per  cent  of  the  reported  healings  the  misrepresenta- 
tions of  Mr.  Dowie  invalidates  we  can  not  know,  but  the  evi- 
dence to  substantiate  any  of  them  must  consequently  be 
stronger  than  that  given  in  printed  testimony,  and  for  the 
severe  cases  well  nigh  overwhelming. 

The  number  of  failures  of  which  nothing  is  said  has  been 
very  considerable,  altho  this  would  not  affect  our  conclusions 
with  respect  to  the  true  explanation  of  healing  in  the  genuine 
cases.  It  sufficiently  refutes  the  claim  of  all  divine  healers 
however,  that  all  manner  of  diseases  are  cured,  or  that  it  is 
the  Lord's  will  to  heal  all  who  sincerely  and  trustingly  applv 
to  Him  in  prayer  for  healing.     "Dr.  Dowie  reports  a  few 


dimxp:  healing  of  ziox 


121 


deaths  in  his  homes,  as  many  say,  'not  yet  healed,'  tho  they 
are  still  hoping.  Many  of  these  finally  ^ive  up  in  despair. 
But  the  most  conclusive  indication  of  the  extent  of  failure, 
comes  from  Dr.  Dowie's  own  statements.  He  says,  in  a  cer- 
tain issue  of  his  paper:  '  I  pray  and  lay  my  hands  on  70,000 
people  in  a  year.'  .\t  that  rate  he  would  have  prayed  with 
175,000  in  two  and  a  half  years.  But  in  the  two  and  a  half 
years  immediately  preceding  this  statement,  he  reports  only 
700  cures.  The  conclusion  is  indisputable  that  only  a  small 
portion  of  those  prayed  with  are  cured."  " 

Mr.  Dowie's  theorv  would  give  him  a  way  of  escape  and 
make  it  possible  to  throw  the  blame  upon  the  patient  on  the 
ground  that  there  was  still  something  wrong  w^ith  the  life, 
and  that  the  conditions  had  not  been  met.  But  we  would 
then  have  numberless  repetitions  of  the  situation  of  Job  and 
his  friends,  for  in  all  this  number  of  uncured  ones  we  would 
find  many  as  devout  and  sincere,  as  good  Christians  and  as 
submissive  and  willing  to  fulfill  the  conditions,  as  any  who 
meet  with  better  success.  They  could  sa>'  of  Mr.  Dowie  and 
his  elders,  "Ye  are  all  physicians  of  no  value."  t 

In  a  stay  of  a  week  in  Zion  City  I  have  seen  the  same  per- 
sons who  were  crippled,  or  in  a  wheel  chair,  or  otherwise 
manifestly  diseased,  and  there  to  seek  healing,  but  no  visible 
help  or  change  of  condition  during  my  stay. 

The  Manager  of  the  Lace  Factory  says,  +  ".\s  to  healing. 
Yes.  I  know  of  several  cases  of  healing.  One  was  in  the 
home  in  Chicago  when  we  arrived  and  he  was  paralyzed  in  his 

*Dr.  H.  H.  Goddard  :  "The  Effect  of  Mind  on  Body  as  evidenced  by 
Faith  Cures,"  p.  3S. 

I  In  L.  of  H..  Feb.  4,  190^,  Mr.  Dowie  gives  an  account  of  his  personal 
attendant.  Car!  Stern,  who  had  died  after  leaving  Zion  City  to  join  him 
in  the  Bahama  Islands.  He  savs,  "He  and  those  around  him  believed  he 
had  been  healed  of  his  disease,  and  simply  needed  the  rest  and  warmth 
which  he  could  find  in  Nassau  to  restore  him  to  vigor  and  to  work."  This 
certainly  does  invalidate  the  testimony  of  every  one  in  Zion.  even  the  one 
•who  experiences  healing. 

J  Personal  letter  to  me.  April  29,  190S. 


122 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


right  arm  and  side  and  both  legs.  He  recovered  gradually 
and  is  a  well  man  to-da>'.  I  may  say,  however,  that  some 
testimonials  1  have  found  much  overdrawn  and  the  people 
have  had  symptoms  constantly  returning  when  they  claim 
they  had  perfect  healing.  A  great  many  failures,  too,  more 
than  we  know  because  they  are  never  mentioned,  but  some  I 
have  seen  being  lifted  into  the  train  going  home  disappointed. 
A  good  few  die,  consumption  especially.  Mrs.  Speicher  died 
of  that  disease.  Mrs.  Dowie  has  heart  trouble  and  has  to 
use  herself  with  care." 

This  letter  raises  the  further  question  of  the  competency  of 
the  patient  to  give  satisfactory  testimony.  That  a  number, 
contrary  somewhat  to  Mr.  Dowie's  teaching,  however,  say  they 
are  well  and  try  to  act  as  tho  they  were,  (the  result  of  the 
kind  of  teaching  A.  B.  Simpson  has  been  giving  for  years)  is 
certainly  true.  Their  theory  is  that  to  act  or  talk  otherwise 
would  be  to  allow  distrust  to  God  to  enter  the  life.  Many 
mistake  tendency  toward  recover}-,  for  complete  cure  ;  or  re- 
lieved feeling  of  any  kind  for  full  release,  only  to  lapse  back 
into  the  old  condition  or  worse,  after  their  testimony  has  gone 
forth. 

With  regard  to  competency  of  patients  to  give  trustworthy 
testimony.  Dr.  Buckley  says,  t  "All  honest  and  rational  per- 
sons are  competent  to  testify  whether  they  feel  sick,  and 
whether  they  seem  better,  or  believe  themselves  to  have  en- 
tirely recovered  after  being  prayed  for  and  anointed  .  .  .  but 
their  testimony  as  to  what  disease  they  had  or  whether  they 
are  entirely  cured,  is  a  different  matter,  and  to  have  value 

*  There  have  been  a  number  of  sad  deaths  in  Zion.  Miss  Esther  A. 
Dowie  the  only  daughter  of  the  founder  was  so  badly  burned  on  May  14, 
1902,  as  to  be  past  human  help.  Her  father  was  with  her  the  twelve 
hours  preceding  her  death,  but  nothing  could  be  done  to  save  her.  A 
physician  was  called  in,  but  no  one  could  blame  the  desperate  father  altho 
it  was  at  his  request.  Rather  would  we  blame  him  had  it  not  been  done. 
That  he  made  capital  out  of  the  sad  affair  is  true,  but  we  forego  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  details.— See  L.  of  H.,  May  17  and  24,  1902. 

(  Dr.  J.  M.  Buckley,  "Faith  Healing,"  p.  7. 


DIVINE  HEALING  OF  ZION 


must  be  scrutinized  in  ever\'  case  by  competent  judges. 

In  general,  diseases  are  internal  or  external.  It  is  clear  that 
no  individual  can  know  positively  the  nature  of  any  internal 
disease  that  he  has.  The  diagnosis  of  the  most  skillful  physi- 
cian may  be  in  error.  Post-mortems  in  celebrated  cases  have 
often  shown  that  there  had  been  an  entire  misunderstanding 
of  the  malady.  Hysteria  can  simulate  every  known  com- 
plaint: paralysis,  heart  disease,  and  the  worst  forms  of  fever 
and  ague.  Hypochondria,  to  which  intelligent  and  highly 
educated  persons  of  sedentary  habits  brooding  over  their  sen- 
sations are  liable,  especially  if  they  are  accustomed  to  read 
medical  works  and  accounts  of  diseases  and  their  treatment, 
will  do  the  same.  .  .  .  Especially  in  women  do  the  troubles 
to  which  the\'  are  most  subject  give  rise  to  hysteria,  in  which 
condition  they  may  firmly  believe  that  they  are  afflicted  with 
disease  of  the  spine,  of  the  heart,  or  indeed  of  all  the  organs. 
I  heard  an  intelligent  woman  testify  that  she  had  '  heart-dis- 
ease, irritation  of  the  spinal  cord,  and  Bright's  disease  of  the 
kidneys,  and  had  suffered  from  them  all  for  ten  years.'  She 
certainly  had  some  symptoms  of  them  all.  .  .  .  The  forego- 
ing observations  relate  to  internal  diseases,  but  it  is  by  no 
means  easy  to  determine  what  an  external  disease  is.  Tumors 
are  often  mistaken  for  cancers,  and  cancers  are  of  different 
species — some  incurable  by  any  means  known  to  the  medical 
l)rofession,  others  curable.  It  is  by  these  differences  that 
cpiack  cancer  doctors  thrive.  .  .  .  There  is  also  a  difference 
in  tumors  :  some  under  no  circumstances  cause  death  ;  others 
are  liable  to  become  as  fatal  as  a  malignant  pustule.  .  .  .  Often 
the  account  of  the  cure  has  been  exaggerated :  relapses  have 
not  been  published,  peculiar  sensations  still  felt,  and  resisted, 
have  been  omitted  from  the  description,  and  the  mode  of  cure 
has  been  restricted  to  one  act  or  a  single  moment  of  time, 
when  in  response  to  questions  it  has  appeared  that  it  was 
weeks  or  months  before  the  person  could  be  properly  said  to 
be  well.  In  all  such  cases  it  is  obvious  that  the  written  testi- 
mony is  of  little  value;  indeed,  it  is  seldom  that  a  published 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


account  in  books  supporting  marvels  of  this  kind  shows  an3' 
sign  of  being  written  by  a  person  who  took  the  pains,  if  he 
possessed  the  capacity,  to  investigate  the  facts  accuratelv. 
Frequent  quotations  of  such  accounts  add  nothing  to  their 
credibility  or  value.  .  .  .  The  object  of  these  remarks  is  not 
to  discredit  all  testimony,  but  to  show  the  conditions  upon 
which  its  value  depends." 

We  are  compelled  to  classify  much  of  the  Zion  testimony 
as  suggested  by  this  quotation,  because  of  the  cases  we  have 
seen  to  be  untrustworthy,  and  because  of  manifest  exaggera- 
tion. For  example:  One  of  Mr.  Dowie's  celebrated  cases 
which  is  cited  on  a  little  slip  printed  for  distribution,  is  of  a 
woman  who  claims  to  have  been  healed  of  nineteen  cancers. 
She  swears  to  this  in  court.  * 

CROSS-EXAMINED    BY    MR.   STUBB  LEFT  ELD . 

O.  "  What  did  you  go  there  for  ?    Did  you  have  cancer  ? 

A.  I  had  nineteen  cancers. 

Q.  Are  5-ou  sure  they  were  cancers  ? 

A.  Well,  I  guess  Drs.  Link  and  Murphy  ought  to  know. 

Q.  What  became  of  the  cancers  ? 

A.  God  took  them  away  and  I  thank  God  for  it. 

Q.  Dr.  Dowie  prayed  for  you  ? 

A.  He  prayed  with  me. 

Q.  Did  he  give  you  any  medicine  ? 

A.  He  did  not  know  I  had  cancer.  I  came  there  and  he 
prayed  with  me  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  he  did  it 
in  the  presence  of  about  a  hundred  ladies.  I  had  no  pain.  I 
had  those  cancers  for  seven  and  a  half  years.  In  eleven 
weeks  they  were  all  gone.  I  have  been  healed  of  nineteen 
cancers." 

Mr.  Dowie  makes  the  following  statement  upon  the  death 
of  Carl  Stern,  his  personal  attendant  :  t 

*  See  case  formerly  cited. 

f  Leaves  ot  Healing,  February  4,  1905. 


DIVINE  HEALINXt  OF  ZION 


"Dear  Carl,  he  was  so  radiantly  happy,  and  he  believed  that  he  had 
received  his  healing,  and  was  thanking  God  for  His  blessings  to  him  ! 

And  who  shall  say  that  he  did  not  receive  it  ?  It  is  for  him  to  know. 
1  believe  with  him  that  he  did  receive  the  healing 'of  the  disease,  but  that 
the  final  coming  away  of  tnat  horrid  matter  took  so  much  of  his  already 
exhausted  strength  that  it  left  the  heart's  action  too  weak,  and  he  ought 
to  have  been  able  to  be  absolutely  quiet  after  that.  But  we  never  know 
what  is  best  to  do,  and  we  do  not  see  until  it  is  too  late  oftentimes." 

If  this  isn't  a  complete  surrender  of  his  whole  position, 
what  is  it  ? 

Here  are  some  of  the  cases  given  in  Leaves  of  Healing  as 
miraculous  healings  over  the  signature  of  the  healed,  given 
in  all  good  conscience.  Some  of  these  I  have  had  corrobora- 
ted by  forrner  Zion  people  whom  I  know  to  be  convinced  that 
thev  are  genuine,  but  who  have  no  motive  to  laud  Mr.  Dowie, 
in  fact  no  longer  believe  in  him  : 

MIRACULOUS  HEALINGS. 

Tumors.  ABCESSES,  etc.  -Vol.  I,  No.  24— Miss  Sadie  Cody,  healed 
when  dying  of  Spinal  Inflammation,  Spinal  Abcesses,  and  Tumor,  after 
eight  months'  intense  suffering. 

RAISED  FRO.W  THE  DEAD.— Vol  XVI,  Page  86.  and  Vol.  I.  No.  31  — 
Mrs.  Jennie  Paddock,  healed  at  the  very  moment  of  prayer,  when  dying 
of  abdominal  Tumor. 

SHORT  Ll.WBS.  Partial  paralysis.  — Vol.  ill.  No.  V  Mrs.  Lydia 
Markley-Piper,  healed  of  Partial  Paralysis  and  Short  Limb,  after  suffering 
for  sixteen  years. 

EPILEPSY.-  Vol.  Ill,  No.  39,  and  Vol.  V.  No.  41— Elder  F.  A.  Graves, 
healed  of  Epilepsy  after  twenty  years  of  suffering. 

Cancer  of  Mouth  and  Blood-poisoning. -Vol.  111.  No.  48— Miss 
Ethel  Post,  healed  of  Cancer  of  the  Mouth  and  Blood-Poisoning,  after  her 
case  was  considered  hopeless  by  Eminent  Physicians. 

NINETEEN  Cancers.— Vol.  IV.  No.  34  —  Mrs.  Mary  Casey-Gough, 
healed  of  one  lar^e  and  eighteen  small  cancers  when  Specialists  said  there 
was  no  hope  for  her. 

Bright's  Disease,  heart  Trouble,  etc.--Vo1.  iv.  No.  46— Mrs. 
Vina  Peck-Graves,  healed  of  Curvature  of  the  Spine,  Bright's  Disease  of 
the  Kidneys,  Heart  Trouble.  Detective  Eyesight.  Headaches,  and  Nerv- 
ousness, after  two  years  of  awful  suffering. 

Tu.^^OR.— Vol.  V.No.  17— .Mrs.  Sara  Leggett-Brooks,  healed  instantly, 
when  dying,  at  the  time  of  laying  on  of  hands  and  prayer. 


126 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


Cancer  of  the  Throat.— Vol.  V,  No.  32-Delia  King,  healed  of  a 
terrible  Cancer  of  tlie  Tliroat  over  twelve  years  ago,  about  eighty-seven 
years  of  age  and  enjoying  good  health. 

HORRIBLY  Crushed  and  Broken  leg  and  foot.— Vol.  VI,  No. 

21  and  Vol.  IX,  No.  18  —  Christopher  McCormick,  healed  of  Kidney 
Trouble,  Blindness,  and  horribly  Crushed  and  Broi<en  Leg  and  Foot. 

Tobacco.  Liquor,  consumption,  etc. —  Vol.  Vll,  No.  S  — Testi- 
mony of  George  D.Chenoweth,  formerly  of  Harvey,  Illinois,  now  of  Zion 
City,  Illinois. 

Rupture.  Spinal  trouble,  and  Whooping-cough.— v.  IX,  No. 

23— Miss  Edith  A.  Hoskin  gave  up  truss  and  was  healed  of  rupture  and 
spinal  trouble,  and  spasms  resulting  from  whooping-cough. 

CONSUMPTION,  CURVATURE  OF  THE  SPINE.-Vol.  XI,  No.  21— Miss 
Mary  Hornshuh  healed  of  Consumption,  Curvature  of  Spine,  and  other 
diseases. 

FIBROUS  TUMOR.— Vol.  XI,  No.  16— Mrs.  Isaac  Mill,  instantly  healed 
when  at  the  point  of  death  from  Fibroid  Tumor. 

TERRIBLE  INJURY.  CANCER.— Vol.  XIII,  No.  3— Noble  E.  Ryther, 
quickly  healed  of  terrible  injury;  his  wife  delivered  from  Cancer. 

The  healing^  of  Mrs.  Isaac  Mill  is  generally  held  by  resi- 
dents of  Zion  City,  to  have  been  the  last  marked  miracle  of 
healing.  After  all  the  talk  about  divine  healing  in  connection 
with  Zion  City  this  case  occurring  three  years  ago  is  practi- 
cally the  last  with  the  exception  of  the  recoveries  from  slight 
ailments,  such  as  are  daily  taking  place  in  any  community. 
There  will  be  multitudes  of  these  of  course,  and  among  a 
peoi^le  already  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  theory  of  divine 
healing  they  will  all  be  cases  coming  under  that  head. 

But  what  of  the  marked  healings  ?  The  antecedent  proba- 
bility is  against  their  having  occurred  under  just  the  condi- 
tions and  with  the  miraculous  interi^retafion  the  patient  has 
given.  Parallel  cases  such  as  those  given  up  by  ph>'sicians 
to  die,  the  jiatient  contrary  to  expectation  fully  recovering, 
can  be  cited  in  any  community,  and  they  occur  with  tolerable 
frequence.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  an  rmusual  number 
of  such  cases  would  come  within  the  scope  of  Zion  influence 

*  It  would  be  interesting  in  any  group  of  persons  to  ask  for  particulars 
as  to  such  cases  and  see  how  many  know  of  such. 


DIMNE  HEALING  OF  ZION 


127 


and  notice.  The>'  would  all  be  cited  as  miraculous  without 
careful  investigation. 

Are  we  to  accept  as  genuine  any  of  the  cancer  cures  ?  The 
medical  profession  says  the  malignant  cancer  is  incurable. 
They  are  either  correct  and  cancer  is  incurable  by  an\-  means 
at  jiresent  known,  in  which  case  wrong  diagnosis  is  a  part  of 
the  explanation,  or  the  divine  healer  has  accomplished  the 
scientifically  impossible.  There  is  no  reason  why  medical 
science  has  a  right  to  affirm  that  what  it  has  found  no  cure 
for,  can  not  be  cured.  It  is  fair  for  the  divine  healer  to  urge 
this.  Dr.  Goddard  says,  "The  physician  who  knows  the 
whole  history,  the  physiology  and  etiology  of  cancer,  who  has 
seen  every  kind  of  remedy  tried,  including  divine  healing", 
without  success,  is  the  first  to  admit  his  mistake  when  he 
sees  the  disease  that  he  has  thought  was  cancer,  cured.  He 
can  not  do  anything  else  and  he  would  do  the  same  if  his  own 
remedies  had  cured  the  disease." 

"The  mental  scientist  (or  divine  healer)  however,  again 
complains,  and  with  apparent  justice,  that  it  is  illogical  and 
unscientific  for  the  doctor  of  medicine  to  make  an  arbitrary 
classification  and  to  declare  all  disease  incurable  which  he 
has  been  unable  to  cure.  And  when  a  new  claimant  for  thera- 
peutic honors  comes  into  the  field,  he  rejects  it  on  the  basis 
of  the  old  determination  that  such  diseases  are  incurable. 
The  argument  is  good,  and  \  et,  so  long  as  the  physician  puts 
himself  under  the  same  ruk-,  he  can  not  be  accused  of  Unfair- 
ness. In  reality  his  iirocedure  is  the  onl\'  one  possible.  Any 
other  would  lead  to  ine.\trical)le  confusion. 

We  must  act  on  the  basis  of  what  is  most  probable  ;  and 
in  this  mental  science  stands  on  the  same  ground  as  any  drug. 
Whenever  any  rernedy,  be  it  drug  or  idea,  is  shown  to  cure 
cancer  oftener  than  the  law  of  chance  will  allow  spontaneous 
cure  or  wrong  diagnosis,  then  and  not  until  then  will  it  be 
accepted  as  specific  for  that  disease." 


*Op.  cit.  pp.  28.  29. 


128 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


The  questions  of  diagnosis  and  of  the  adequacy  of  testi- 
mony, while  of  extreme  importance,  can  never  be  settled. 
Men  will  differ  in  their  judgments  here.  The  patient's  own 
diagnosis  or  that  of  a  quack  doctor  is  of  no  value. 

Any  of  the  testimony  of  Zion  people  elicited  in  public  by 
Mr.  Dowie  when  addressing  them  and  asking  these  who  have 
been  healed  of  certain  diseases  to  stand,  must  be  rated  as  ab- 
solutely valueless.  It  would  not  be  accepted  an\-where  as 
scientific  testimony.  And  the  same  holds  good  of  not  a  little 
of  the  printed  testimony  for  reasons  discussed  above. 

But  cures  do  take  place.  Many  can  say,  have  said,  and 
appearances  bear  it  out,  "whereas  I  was  sick,  I  am  now  well." 
I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  any  of  the  personal  letters  from 
followers  of  Mr.  Dowie  to  me  as  being  insincere  or  wilfully 
misrepresenting  the  real  experience.  Allowing  liberally  for 
a  coefficient  of  enthusiasm  and  erroneous  diagnosis  and  the 
like,  I  am  convinced  that  these  people  know  themselves  to 
have  been  healed  as  assuredl}'  as  any  one  would  who  had  gone 
to  a  regular  practitioner  and  received  help.  Dr.  Goddird 
says,  "Another  class  of  cases  that  is  quoted  as  among  the 
most  startling,  has  to  do  with  muscular  functions.  These  are 
the  inabilitj'  to  walk,  from  various  causes,  such  as  one  leg 
short,  paralysis,  sprain,  etc.,  etc.  Dr.  Dowie  prays  with  these 
people,  tells  them  to  walk,  and  they  obey,  much  to  the  sur- 
prise of  all,  and  to  the  glory  of  God  as  they  devoutly  be- 
lieve." Dr.  Goddard  made  an  extensive  study  of  some  of 
Mr.  Dowie's  earlier  reputed  healings  and  this  is  a  part  of  his 
findings.  I  was  convinced  of  the  genuineness  of  a  number  of 
Mr.  Dowie's  healings  by  being  present  in  Zion  Citv,  April 
ID,  1906,  the  day  when  he  was  ejipected  back  from  Mexico 
after  having  been  shorn  of  authority  by  the  regime  under 
Overseer  Voliva.  I  talked  with  the  people  who  had  loved 
their  deposed  leader  with  complete  devotion  because  they 
were  assured  that  he  had  been  the  agency  of  blessing  to  them, 
and  it  was  all  the  harder  to  renounce  him  as  he  had  been  the 

*Op.  cit.,  p.  30. 


DIVINE  HEALING  OF  ZION 


129 


instrument  of  their  healing.  Many  with  whom  I  talked  that 
day  had  experienced  healing  at  his  hands. 

However,  we  are  not  by  any  means  to  regard  all  genuine 
healings  as  miraculous,  altho  they  have  taken  place  simulta- 
neous with,  or  soon  after  the  praying  and  laying  on  of  hands 
by  Mr.  Dowie  or  one  of  Zion's  accredited  teachers,  even  when 
the  diagnosis  is  approximate^-  correct  and  the  testimony  per- 
fectly sincere  and  reasonably  reliable.  They  would  be  so 
reported  by  Zion  as  signs  or  evidence  of  their  teaching  being 
divine. 

There  is  no  a  priori  reason  that  seems  to  me  valid  for  saying 
that  the  miracles  which  occurred  in  New  Testament  times  may 
not  occur  in  ours,  but  certain  things  have  to  be  noticed  with 
respect  to  all  recoveries  from  sickness  under  whatever  system 
of  treatment  and  whenever  occurring,  in  addition  to  those  we 
have  already  discussed.  We  must  take  into  account  at  all  times 
what  is  known  as  vis  medicatrix  naturae,  the  final  element  in 
all  recoveries.  Dr.  Buckley  *  quotes  Sir  John  Forbes,  M.  D., 
one  of  the  eminent  regular  ph3^sicians  of  England  as  saj'ing  : 
"First,  that  in  a  large  proportion  of  the  cases  treated  by  allo- 
pathic physicians,  the  disease  is  cured  by  nature,  and  not  by 
them.  Second,  that  in  a  lesser  but  still  not  a  small  propor- 
tion, the  disease  is  cured  bv  nature  in  spite  of  them  ;  in  other 
words,  their  interference  retarding  instead  of  assisting  the 
cure.  Third,  that  in,  consequently,  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  diseases  it  would  fare  as  well  or  better  with  patients  if 
all  remedies — at  least  all  active  remedies,  especially  drugs — 
were  abandoned."  He  also  quotes  Sir  John  Marshall,  F.  R. 
S.,  as  follows:  "The  vis  medicatrix  naturae  is  the  agent  to 
employ  in  the  healing  of  an  ulcer,  or  the  union  of  a  broken 
bone ;  and  it  is  equally  true  that  the  physician  or  surgeon 
never  cured  a  disease ;  he  only  assists  the  natural  processes 
of  cure  performed  b}'  the  intrinsic  conservative  energy  of  the 
frame,  and  this  is  but  the  extension  of  the  force  imparted  at 
the  origination  of  the  individual  being." 
*  Op.  cit.  p.  277. 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


This  force  has  helped  Mr.  Dowie  and  all  divine  healers  to 
secure  cures,  and  in  a  large  number  of  cases  would  if  left  en- 
tirely free  bring  about  recovery.  The  inherent  powers  of  re- 
cuperation in  the  ordinary  constitution  are  all  but  marvellous, 
and  many  cases  which  seem  to  be  in  extremis,  recover  because 
the  natural  vitality  is  sufficient.  A  physician  told  me  that 
twenty-seven  out  of  twenty-eight  sick  persons  of  all  kinds  of 
cases,  mild  and  severe  included,  would  recover  if  left  alone, 
provided  the  cares  and  worries  and  nervous  strains  of  civili- 
zation could  be  removed  for  the  time.  *  Mind  curers  and 
divine  healers  seek  and  accomplish  the  concentrating  of  the 
thought  of  the  patient  upon  health,  or  life,  or  God,  and  so  re- 
move the  obstructions  to  nature's  free  working.  The  divine 
healers  dare  all  kinds  of  cases  if  the  religious  conditions  set 
forth  above  are  complied  with,  and  it  would  be  impossible 
that  they  fail  to  pray  and  lay  on  hands  coincident  with  the 
recovery,  or  at  least  the  cessation  of  pain  and  symptoms,  of  a 
great  many  of  their  patients.  The  proportion  of  their  heal- 
ings in  different  types  of  cases  does  not  differ  greatly  from 
those  of  materia  medica,  unless  perhaps  in  neurotic  cases 
where  the  presence  of  care  and  anxiety  is  a  hindering  cause. 

It  occurs  not  infrequently  that  cases  practicallv  given  up 
by  regular  physicians  are  cured  by  faith  healers  of  one  sort 
or  another  (and  Mr.  Dowie  at  this  point  has  no  advantage 
over  his  diabolical  counterfeits )  because  the  very  thing 
necessary  to  release  the  springs  of  nature's  new  life  is  some 
kind  of  mental  or  volitional  dynamic.  But  we  are  running 
ahead— the  point  here  is  that  multitudes  of  people  get  well 
if  let  alone,  or  if  assisted  a  little  to  lay  their  worries  one  side 
and  adopt  the  dynamic  idea  of  health  or  wholeness. 

For  one  who  believes  in  the  God  who  works  in  nature  this 
would  truly  be  divine  healing,  especially  if  prayer  and  relig- 
ious faith  have  helped  the  mind  to  become  composed  and  have 

*  He  did  not  have  data  for  fully  bearing  out  his  statement  of  the  propor- 
tion. He  referred  to  the  cases  of  ordinary  ailment  where  no  physician 
is  called  and  where  care  and  some  nursing  bring  about  recovery. 


DIVINE  HEALING  OF  ZION 


131 


removed  anxiety.  And  who  is  to  say  that  this  is  not  the  tru- 
est reaction  upon  the  situation  ?  It  will  be  persons  of  naive 
and  primitive  type  of  mind  however,  who  posit  a  direct  and 
miraculous  interposition  of  God  as  the  cause  of  the  healing. 

Another  word  needs  to  be  said  with  respect  to  the  assist- 
ance toward  recovery  in  cases  such  as  these,  or  for  that  mat- 
ter with  respect  to  all  cases  influenced  by  the  divine  healer 
realh'  or  seemingly.  To  quote  Dr.  Buckle}',  *  "  The  mind 
can  influence  the  bod}^  toward  health  or  disease,  and  God  has 
constant  access  to  ever}-  mind.  Hence  by  increasing  the  in- 
valid's hope  or  diverting  him  from  pernicious  attention  to  his 
symptoms,  and  by  insensibly  affecting  the  train  of  ideas  in 
the  minds  of  phj-sicians  and  surrounding  friends  or  foes,  the 
ever  present  God  may,  without  contravening  any  visible  ordi- 
nary method  of  cause  and  effect,  promote  recovery.  Nor  can 
any  prove  that  God  never  does  interfere  directly,  tho  beyond 
human  ken,  between  natural  cause  and  effect." 

If  we  accept,  however,  what  seems  to  be  the  most  reasona- 
ble hypothesis,  the  view  that  all  recoveries  are  natural  recov- 
eries, we  still  have  to  account  for  the  assistance  the  divine 
healer  renders  in  the  cases  where  we  grant  that  he  has  per- 
formed a  certain  function.  In  a  word,  for  it  is  reduced  to 
this,  what  is  the  real  explanation  of  divine  healings  of  the 
kind  Mr.  Dowie  and  Zion  have  accomplished  ?  Or  to  be  true 
to  their  own  notion  of  it,  how  has  he  mediated  the  power 
leading  to  recovery  ? 

Allowing  for  all  absolute  failures  which  have  falsely  been 
regarded  as  cures  for  one  reason  or  another ;  allowing  for 
lapses  after  temporary'  cures  (and  the  temporary  cure  would 
require  explanation)  have  been  wrought,  allowing  for  the 
cases  where  only  tendency  toward  a  better  state  of  health  has 
been  achieved  rather  than  actual  results  of  healing  ;  there  yet 
remain  man}'  cases  which  have  been  actually  healed  of  more 
or  less  violent  disease  by  Mr.  Dowie,  or  in  coincidence  with 
his  prayer  and  efforts  for  their  recovery.    The  same  may  also 

*  Dowie  Analyzed  and  Classified,  Pamphlet. 


132 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


be  said  for  many  of  the  officers  and  teachers  of  the  C.  C.  A. 
C.  in  Zion. 

We  are  compelled  to  proceed  without  regard  to  the  relig- 
ious notions  involved,  *  because  of  the  similarity  in  general 
between  all  anti-medicine  cures  both  as  to  the  character  of 
the  cases  and  the  limitations  surrounding  the  differing  theo- 
ries. Innumerable  cases  of  pureh'  natural  mental  cures  can 
be  cited  by  reference  to  the  works  Dr.  Tuke,  Dr.  Carpenter, 
Dr.  A.  T.  Schofield,  or  in  fact  the  diary  of. almost  any  reputa- 
ble physician.  These  cases  are  not  always  of  people  supersti- 
tious and  ignorant,  nor  are  the  diseases  imaginary  as  some 
erroneously  suppose,  t  In  all  such  cases  "the  cure  or  relief 
was  the  natural  result  of  mental  states.  As  long  ago  as  the 
time  of  John  Hunter,  it  was  established  by  a  variety  of  ex- 
periments and  by  his  own  experience  that  the  concentration 
of  attention  upon  any  part  of  the  human  system  affects  first 
the  sensations,  next  produces  a  change  in  the  circulation,  then 
a  modification  of  the  nutrition,  and  finally  an  alteration  in 
structure."  t 

Hypnotism  popularly  misunderstood  and  considered  the 
possession  of  a  few  who  can  by  its  power  do  anything  they 

*The  character  of  Mr.  Dowie  is  now  generally  believed  to  have  been 
shaded  by  duplicity  and  wilful  dishonesty,  if  not  immorality,  and  yet 
many  of  his  healings  which  must  be  allowed  if  any  are,  took  place  after 
such  was  the  case  with  him,  it  he  were  ever  thoroughly  trustworthy.  The 
belief  that  objective  power  of  a  spiritual  nature  was  exerted  by  him  in 
these  healings  has  to  be  abandoned  even  by  those  who  fully  believe  in 
divine  healing.  His  followers  say  that  he  was  a  man  ot  God,  a  mighty 
power  for  God,  etc.,  but  with  their  denial  now  that  he  is  a  godly  man, 
and  their  praying  that  he  may  be  brought  to  repentance,  they  invalidate 
their  own  theory  of  the  ministry  of  healing,  and  must  explain  these  heal- 
ings that  took  place  after  he  became  dishonest,  in  some  other  way.  The 
psychologist  knows  that  it  doesn't  make  any  difference  about  the  opera- 
tor or  healer,  if  the  people  are  for  the  time  convinced  of  his  uprightness. 
The  channel  of  blessing  is  not  the  character  of  the  healer,  but  the  mind 
of  the  patient. 

tCf.  Goddard,  op.  cit.,  27. 

J  Dr.  Buckley,  Faith  Healing,  p.  2S. 


DIVINE  HEALING  OF  ZION 


133 


like  with  the  persons  who  fall  under  their  influence,  is  a  means 
by  which  numerous  cures  have  been  wrought  in  certain  classes 
of  cases.  *  Suggestion  is  a  term  in  better  repute,  but  it  is 
simply  hypnotism,  with  the  exception  that  the  patient  does 
not  sleep.  Both  depend  upon  the  influence  of  the  mind  over 
the  bod_v  for  any  tangible  results.  The  suggestion  in  either 
case  is  only  realized  where  the  inhibiting  influences  in  the 
mind  of  the  patient  are  fully  overcome  and  the  idea  of  the 
operator  acquiesced  in,  and  then  onh'  in  such  measure  as 
the  nature  of  the  case,  or  the  individual  under  treatment  will 
allow.  Not  all  are  equally  suggestible  or  capable  of  being 
influenced  ver}'  much  in  this  wa\'.  Nearh'  every  one  is  more 
or  less,  for  the  tendency  is  for  ever^-  accepted  idea  to  gene- 
rate its  actualitv. 

Dr.  Goddard  states  the  law  in  regard  to  the  cure  of  disease 
by  suggestion  as  follows  :  t  "The  idea  of  health  tends  to  pro- 
duce health  in  proportion  to  the  strength  of  the  idea,  or  in- 
versely as  the  opposition  to  be  met.  This  opposition  to  the 
acceptance  of  the  idea  of  health  comes  from  the  presence  of 
other  ideas  or  beliefs  and  also  from  physical  conditions  which 
require,  often,  long  time  for  their  complete  correction.  The 
time  required  weakens  the  strength  of  the  fixed  idea." 

Fixity  of  attention,  submission  or  faith  on  the  part  of  the 
patient  and  acceptable  suggestion  with  no  organic  hindering 
causes,  would  be  ideal  conditions  for  a  cure. 

Now  remembering  that  in  Mr.  Dowie's  theory  of  healing 
fixity  of  attention  and  submission  are  taught  and  enjoined, 
and  that  the  practice  almost  uniformh-  corresponds  to  the  in- 
tellectual presuppositions  of  the  patient,  the  best  sort  of 
conditions  for  mental  healing  are  present.  The  suggestion 
or  idea  of  health  or  recovery  in  the  form  of  a  command  to 
walk  and  the  like,  comes  at  an  opportune  time  in  such  cases 
and  with  conditions  all  favorable  for  its  realization.  The 

*See  discussion  of  this  in  Goddard,  op.  cit.,  also  Prof.  James'  Psy- 
chology. 

t  Op.  cit.,  p.  55. 


134 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


testimonies  which  came  to  me  in  letters,  presented  in  chap- 
ters on  "  Point  of  Contact  and  People  of  Zion,"  show  the 
writers  to  have  been  in  this  attitude  at  least  in  some  of  the 
cases.  But  let  us  look  at  a  few  testimonies  from  the  more 
intelligent  believers  in  divine  healing,  who  are  perhaps  more 
capable  of  anah-zing  their  experiences. 

"  I  simply  gave  up  the  use  of  doctors  and  all  remedies,  so 
called,  in  the  medical  realm  and  obeyed  Rom.  12:1,  '  present 
your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice  wholly  acceptable  to  God.'  " 
Result:  "  Total  deliverance  from  pain  and  perfect  ability  to 
use  my  paral^'zed  arm.  I  united  with  the  C.  C.  A.  C.  in 
Zion  because  it  measures  up  with  the  Bible  teachings  as  is 
found  in  none  of  the  denominations." 

"  I  have  been  healed  in  answer  to  prayer  many  times  in  the 
past  nine  years.  I  was  healed  in  Oakland,  Cal.,  before  I  had 
ever  heard  of  Dr.  Dowie  or  his  work.  The  two  most  striking 
experiences  along  this  line  were  in  connection  with  healing 
received  for  my  eyes  and  appendicitis.  ...  In  December, 
1899,  I  was  stricken  ver\'  suddenly'  with  a  very  severe  attack 
of  appendicitis,  from  which  I  had  suffered  more  or  less  in  pe- 
riods of  from  three  to  six  months  for  three  years.  ...  In 
answer  \o  prayer  which  was  specially  made  in  my  behalf  by 
Overseer  Mason  .  .  .  deliverance  came  and  since  that  time 
I  have  never  had  a  return  of  the  trouble.  ...  As  far  as  the 
appendicitis  is  concerned  there  were  the  usual  severe  pains 
in  the  bowels,  inflammation  and  high  fever,  accompanied  with 
intense  pains  extending  into  the  groin  and  into  the  muscles  of 
the  legs.  ...  In  August  of  1899,  having  read  one  copy  of 
Leaves  of  Healing,  and  having  examined  very  closely  the 
scriptural  passages  cited  in  the  little  tract  entitled  'God's 
Way  of  Healing,'  a  copy  of  which  I  inclose,  I  became  fully 
convinced  that  Divine  Healing  was  just  as  real  as  Divine 
Salvation  in  Jesus  the  Christ  through  the  Holy  Spirit.  .  .  My 
healings  were  both  instantaneous.  ...  In  the  case  of  the 
attacks  of  appendicitis  the  pain  left  the  abdomen  at  once  and 
tho  weak  from  the  four  days  of  heavy  fever  and  intense  suffer- 


DIVINE  HEALING  OF  ZION 


135 


ingf,  I  immediatelj'  was  able  to  eat  everything.  In  this  attack 
of  December,  1899,  1  returned  to  school  with  the  opening  of 
the  new  term  of  January  22nd.  I  had  formulated  no  plan 
with  reference  to  my  healing.  The  conditions  which  I  be- 
lieve the  Word  of  God  teaches  must  be  fulfilled,  were  those 
of  true  repentance,  faith  in  Jesus  the  Christ  as  the  Healer  as 
well  as  the  Saviour,  and  the  determination  to  be  wholly  obedi- 
ent to  the  Holy  Spirit  wherever  he  might  lead  me.  .  .  .  My 
mental  state  and  religious  state  at  the  time  of  cure  was  that 
of  a  confident,  hopeful,  loving  disciple  of  the  Lord  Jesus  the 
Christ." 

"  I  have  often  been  healed  in  answer  to  praj'er,  both  before 
coming  into  Zion  and  since.  .  .  .  Healing  has  sometimes 
come  instantaneously.  ...  I  understand  the  general  condi- 
tions to  be  repentance  and  restoration  as  far  as  possible 
where  wrongs  h^e  been  committed  against  others,  then  to 
trust  God  for  healing,  which  comes  in  answer  to  one's  own 
prayers  or  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  those  who  have  the  gift 
specified  in  Corinthians." 

"  Replying  to  your  first  question,' will  say  that  before  know- 
ing anything  about  the  work  or  teachings  of  Zion,  after  hav- 
ing given  fifteen  3'ears  of  Christian  work  and  to  the  preaching 
of  the  Word  of  God,  I  overworked  and  was  for  four  years 
under  physicians'  care  and  nothing  the  better,  only  growing 
worse,  with  hope  almost  despairing  and  in  supplication  to 
God  the  Scripture  came :  'if  you  will  ask  an\thing  in  my 
name  I  will  do  it.'  I  then  and  there  said,  '  First,  I  do  not 
know  how  to  pra.v  in  his  name  as  I  should.  Secondly,  When 
I  learn  how  to  thus  pray  I  shall  be  healed.'  The  nature  of 
my  malady  consisted  of  indigestion,  dyspepsia,  constipation, 
rheumatism,  and  nervous  prostration  in  the  shape  of  brain 
fag,  which  had  been  coming  on  me  for  four  years  or  more.  *  .  . 
Perhaps  it  will  suffice  that  after  being  carefully  examined  by 
a  physician  who  could  discover  nothing  organically  the  matter 

*  His  whole  trouble  was  probably  constipation,  which  is  more  or  less 
a  matter  of  mental  control. 


136  JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


with  me,  he  was  surprised  in  taking  my  temperature  to  find 
that  I  had  a  sub-normal  temperature  ranging  from  a  degree  to 
a  degree  and  a  half,  which  is  a  more  precarious  state  than  a 
temperature  of  103  or  104.  .  .  .  No  person  suggested  it  to 
me,  no  reading  brought  it  to  me,  but  the  Spirit  of  God  brought 
this  scripture  which  seemed  to  be  a  beacon  light  to  me : 
'  Cast  not  away  therefore  your  confidence  which  has  a  great 
recompense  of  reward.'  .  .  .  That  October  morning  at  ten 
o'clock  the  divine  power  of  God,  which  quickened  my  spirit 
at  the  age  of  thirteen  into  a  newness  of  life,  which  gave  me 
fellowship  with  God,  that  same  divine  touch  quickened  my 
body  that  morning  and  the  disability  and  the  complication 

which  had  been  upon  me  for  years  .  .  .  passed  away  

As  to  answer  eight,  concering  plans  formulated  or  conditions 
stipulated  which  have  been  fulfilled,  will  say  that  I  gave  my- 
self up  to  a  season  of  heart-searching  and  agonizing  crying  to 
God  covering  a  period  of  some  days,  in  which  I  ransacked  my 
own  life,  praying  God  to  discover  unto  me  the  exceeding  sin- 
fulness of  sin.  .  .  .  You  ask  of  my  mental  and  religious  state 
at  the  time  of  the  cure.  Will  say  that  I  was  calm  in  mind,  .  .  . 
and  believe  that  through  the  exercise  of  the  period  of  waiting 
upon  God  which  I  went  through  I  drew  nearer  to  Him  than  ever 
before,  and  believe  that  He  was  nearer  to  me,  so  that  altho 
years  of  Christian  life  preceded  this  the  knowledge  of  God 
gained  in  this  brief  time  seemed  proportionatelv  greater  than 
anything  that  I  had  before  known.  .  .  .  The  healing  came 
first  to  my  spirit.  The  energizing  power  of  God  in  the  Spirit, 
like  an  electric  flash  permeated  my  whole  being,  so  that 
with  a  heart  abounding  with  gratitude  to  God,  ...  I  was 
healed.  Before  this,  however,  the  medicine  that  I  was  taking 
was  abandoned  ...  as  tho  God  himself  had  spoken  to  my 
spirit  to  the  effect  that  the  stuff  that  I  was  taking  was  poi- 
son. ...  I  have  found  in  God,  I  believe,  the  fountain  of 
living  waters." 

These  were  all  healed  by  the  prayer  of  faith  made  personally, 
but  there  is  the  same  fixity  of  attention  evidenced  in  the  giv- 


DIVINE  HEALING  OF  ZION 


137 


ing  up  of  medicine  and  looking  onh^  to  God,  the  same  sub- 
mission and  suggestibility.  The  suggestion  is  the  same,  only 
it  is  in  a  sense  auto-suggestion,  based  upon  the  conviction  that 
God  heals  directly  by  his  touch. 

We  are  prepared  to  say  since  the  evidence  is  in  accord  with 
it,  and  there  is  no  other  theory  that  could  be  more  strongh' 
supported,  that  the  healings  of  Mr.  Dowie  and  Zion  fit  into 
the  theory  of  healing  by  suggestion,  or  waking  hypnotism, 
and  are  therefore  mental  healings.  In  so  far  as  they  are  not 
spontaneous  or  natural  mental  healings  there  has  been  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  assistance  given  by  the  teachings  of  Mr.  Dowie 
or  by  his  personal  presence  and  efforts. 

With  this  agree  the  conclusions  of  the  study  of  mental  and 
divine  healings  made  by  Dr.  Goddard.  "Suggestion  is  the 
bond  of  union  between  all  the  different  methods,  divine  heal- 
ing, Christian  Science,  Mental  Science,  etc.  And  the  law  of 
suggestion  is  the  fundamental  truth  underlying  all  of  them, 
and  that  upon  which  each  has  built  its  superstructure  of  igno- 
rance, superstition,  or  fanaticism."*  In  divine  healing,  Chris- 
tian Science  and  other  forms  of  mental  healing,  the  reasoning 
which  would  oppose  the  suggestion  is  silenced,  not  by  sleep, 
but  by  some  powerful  argument,  dogma  or  assertion  of  the 
healer.  If  the  patient  accepts  the  teaching  of  the  healer, 
without  question,  then  the  ideas  which  the  healer  suggests 
tend  to  work  themselves  out.  And,  so  far  as  the  healer  is 
concerned,  the  patient  is  in  a  state  analogous  to  that  of  the 
hypnotic  subjectf  tho  in  all  other  respects  he  may  be  wide 
awake. 

"  In  both  hypnotism  and  Christian  Science  it  is  the  fixed 
idea  in  the  mind  of  the  patient — placed  there  by  the  healer  or 
operator  or  suggested  by  a  book  or  elaborated  by  the  patient's 
own  reasoning  that  accomplishes  the  result  through  its  ten- 
dency to  generate  its  actuality."  * 

And  what  of  all  this  ?  Is  divine  healing  wrong  per  se  ? 
The  narrowness  and  dogmatism  of  which  it  is  the  outcome 

*Op.  cit.,  pp.  51,  69. 


138 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


and  which  it  in  turn  engenders,  as  witnessed  in  Zion,  is  to 
be  deplored  most  certainly.  That  it  can  never  in  the  nature 
of  the  case  take  the  place  of  common  sense,  and  scientific 
study  of  disease  and  remed}',  we  feel  assured.  Nor  are  we 
forced  to  the  conclusion  either  that  there  is  not  a  legitimate 
place  for  prayer  and  religious  meditation  and  reflection  in 
any  complete  system  of  therapeutics. 

How  shall  the  Christian  Church  react  toward  the  Mind- 
cure  Movement  ?  This  lies  outside  the  scope  of  our  study, 
but  it  is  one  of  the  questions  raised  that  needs  solution  in 
order  to  make  the  recurrence  of  religio-therapeutical  cults 
impossible,  because  unnecessary.  Their  limitations  will  come 
to  be  fully  recognized  in  time  by  their  adherents,  but  there 
are  some  things  the  church  may  learn  from  them  that  are 
valuable. 

The  influence  of  Mr.  Dowie's  teaching  has  been  in  the  main 
salutary,  altho  his  own  life,  if  consistent  with  his  theories, 
would  doubtless  have  made  it  more  so.  Moral  reformation 
has  resulted  in  a  large  number  of  instances,  and  the  clean 
living  required  in  order  to  secure  the  blessings  of  divine  heal- 
ing as  Zion  has  taught,  has  been  a  great  benefit  to  mam-.  It 
is  to  be  deplored  that  perfect  candor  and  honesty  have  not 
been  the  uniform  atmosphere  in  which  people  thus  reclaimed 
to  a  holier  life  might  live  and  work,  in  newness  of  spirit  and 
soundness  of  body. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE   THEOLOGY  OF   ZION   AND   ITS   PHILOSOPHICAL  AND  PSYCHO- 
LOGICAL BASIS. 

There  is  really  no  official  Theology  in  the  Zion  movement 
of  Mr.  Dowie,  altho  there  is  a  more  or  less  definite  body  of 
teaching  resting  upon  certain  conceptions  of  philosophy  and 
psychology.  "The  basis  of  his  Theology  is  practically  the  or- 
dinary doctrines  of  Scotch  Christianity  as  taught  by  Scotch 
Presbyterians,  with  less  emphasis  upon  high  Calvinism  and 
more  upon  a  personal  Deity  and  personal  Devil  in  mundane 
affairs,  including  human  beings,  than  in  this  age  is  commonly 
heard  in  Christian  pulpits." 

In  founding  the  church  Mr.  Dowie  required  (i)  That  all 
members  recognize  the  infallible  inspiration  and  sufficiency 
of  the  Hol\-  Scriptures  as  the  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 
(2)  That  they  recognize  that  no  person  can  be  members  of  the 
church  who  have  not  repented  of  their  sins  and  have  not 
trusted  Christ  for  salvation.  (3)  That  such  persons  must 
also  be  able  to  make  good  profession  and  declare  that  they  do 
know  in  their  own  hearts  that  they  have  truly  repented,  and 
are  truly  trusting  Christ  and  have  the  witness  in  a  measure, 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  (4)  That  all  other  matters  are  matters  of 
opinion. 

This  was  the  first  platform  upon  which  his  followers  were 
to  unite  and  is  printed  upon  every  application  for  member- 
ship to  be  subscribed  to  by  new  members.  There  are  few 
Evangelical  churches  but  what  could  acquiesce  in  its  state- 
ments, as  they  are  so  very  general,  but  Mr.  Dowie  in  a  later 
deliverance,  says  in  speaking  of  the  question  of  inspiration  : 
"  In  regard  to  this,  I  say,  that  if  I  am  God's  minister  in  this 

*  J.  M.  Buckley,  Dowie  Analyzed  and  Classified. 


I40 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


matter,  and  1  write  to  you  something  that  is  in  accord  with 
Scripture,  then  you  are  bound  to  receive  that  just  as  much  as 
if  the  Apostle  Paul  wrote  it.  You  will  please  to  observe  my 
qualifications.  If  I  write  to  you  something  that  is  in  perfect 
accord  with  the  word  of  God,  I  have  just  as  much  right  to 
write  that  as  the  Apostle  Paul  had  to  write.  Not  to  add  to 
the  word  of  God,  but  to  explain  and  apply  it."  *  This  seems 
definite  enough  to  indicate  (a)  that  Mr.  Dowie  regarded  him- 
self as  God's  special  minister,  (b)  that  he  regarded  himself 
as  thoroughly  competent  to  explain  and  apply  the  Word  of 
God,  or  to  thus  practicalh^  add  to  it  whatever  was  needed  for 
the  carrying  to  completion  and  for  the  administering  of  his 
organization.    Subsequent  events  have  shown  that  he  has 

*  Mr.  Dowie  claims  that  his  paper,  Leaves  of  Healing,  is  the  Word  of 
God.  In  Leaves  of  Healing,  October  23,  1897,  pages  830  and  831,  he 
says  the  following  things  regarding  the  paper: 

(1)  "We  have  never  written  a  line  without  the  sweet  consciousness  of 
the  overshadowing  of  the  Power  of  the  Highest."  "And  that  power  also 
entered  into  us."  Of  course  this  includes  the  falsehoods  and  slander  of 
which  he  has  been  guilty. 

(2)  He  says,  "  Leaves  of  Healing  are  inspired  by  God." 

(3)  "  Leaves  of  Healing  are  again  being  written  by  God." 

(4)  He  says,  "Therefore,  these  Leaves  of  Healing  are  God's  own  work, 
as  much  as  any  of  the  six  Gospels  preceding."  (  By  the  six  Gospels  pre- 
ceding, as  we  see  by  the  context,  he  refers  to  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  John, 
Acts  and  the  Revelation.) 

(5)  He  says,  "He  (God)  is  writing  every  hour  and  every  day  and  every 
week  and  every  year,  another  Gospel,  and  every  way  like  unto  all  the 
Gospels  that  have  preceded,  which  were  written  by  Matthew,  and  Mark, 
and  Luke  and  John,  the  two  latter  of  whom  wrote  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles and  the  Revelation  respectively.  The  Seventh  Gospel  (Leaves  of 
Healing)  is  in  every  respect  a  continuance  of  the  things  'that  Jesus  be- 
gan both  to  do  and  to  teach,'  as  Luke  puts  it  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles." 

(6)  "And  so  we  close  the  Volume  of  the  Book  which  God  has  caused 
us  to  write  in  His  Name,  and  we  do  so  in  the  words  which  John  in  Pat- 
mos  used  in  opening  his  writing  : 

"  Blessed  is  he  that  readeth,  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  this 
prophecy  and  keep  those  things  that  are  written  therein  :  for  the  time  is 
at  hand."— The  Ram's  Horn,  Chicago,  ill.,  March  3,  1900. 


THEOLOGY  OF  ZION 


141 


been  absolutely  intolerant  of  any  but  his  own  ideas  and  inter- 
pretations, and  has  made  many  of  his  notions  practical  tests 
of  continuance  of  membership  in  the  church,  (c)  Anyone 
who  came  into  the  movement  he  was  then  organizing  would 
thus  practically  admit  his  being  inspired,  or  at  least  so  capa- 
ble of  interpreting  the  Word  of  God  as  to  amount  to  the  same 
thing.  * 

During  the  February  5,  1896  conference  (L.  of  H.,  Septem- 
ber 10,  1904,  p.  178),  a  Mr.  Calverly  made  an  address  in 
which  he  said,  "Now  in  regard  to  that  inspiration  idea,  I  am 
particularly  interested  in  that.  I  do  not  know  what  your  im- 
pression has  been  when  you  have  been  listening  to  the  doc- 
tor, but  my  impression  has  frequently  been  that  he  has  been 
in  close  touch  with  that  same  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which 
fell  upon  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  that  same  Power 
is  what  I  understand  in  regard  to  the  inspiration,  as  ever 
present  in  the  church."  That  Mr.  Dowie  intended  to  be  and 
has  been  ultimate  authority  for  his  people  there  can  be  no 
question.  He  edited  these  reports  of  the  conferences  of  the 
organization  and  this  speech  of  Mr.  Calverly's  was  just  the 
kind  to  put  him  in  the  place  of  inspiration  for  the  church.  A 
former  member  said  to  me  in  an  interview:  "Mr.  Dowie 
would  often  say  in  public  address,  '  It  doesn't  matter  what 
you  say  or  think,  it  doesn't  matter  what  I  say  or  think  ;  it  is 
what  God  says.'  He  would  then  proceed  to  demand  of  us 
that  we  do  thus  and  so.  Why  every  one  did  not  sense  the 
fact  that  his  arbitrary  will  was  what  he  wanted,  altho  giving 
a  semblance  of  divine  authorit}',  I  can  not  understand.  We 
were  read  out  of  the  church  for  insubordination  when  we  were 
within  the  strict  letter  of  the  agreement  and  confession  we 
signed  when  entering,  "t   I  have  seen  and  heard  practicalK- 

*  Zion  people's  reverence  for  the  L.  of  H.  as  1  have  talked  with  them 
has  been  in  many  cases  scarcely  less  than  that  for  the  Bible. 

t  His  formula  has  been,  "You  say  you  believe  I  am  the  Messenger  of  the 
Covenant?"  or  later.  -'You  say  1  am  the  Prophet  Elijah?"  "Yes  sir."  Then 
do  what  I  say. 


142 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


the  same  thing  when  visiting  his  services  at  Zion  City  and 
wondered  that  the  people  didn't  protest  that  they  had  not 
subscribed  to  any  such  requirements  as  he  was  making. 

It  is  clear  that  Mr.  Dowie  aims  to  start  with  the  Bible  as  a 
code  of  authority,  eschewing  in  his  interpretations  any  reference 
to  the  ordinary  canons  of  historical  criticism.  Any  statement 
the  Bible  makes  is  regarded  as  the  infallible  Word  of  God 
and  the  ultimate  explanation  of  any  matter,  whether  scientific, 
ethical  or  religious.  This  is  the  view-point  held  and  to  which 
appeal  is  made  in  case  of  controversy,  although  considerable 
personal  liberty  is  taken  with  individual  texts  to  make  them 
yield  the  desired  teaching. 

There  is  a  strange  inconsistency  about  literalists  in  Scrip- 
ture interpretation.  Most  of  them  utterly  ignore  those  por- 
tions unsuited  to  whatever  system  they  may  be  advocating. 
Mr.  Dowie  in  L.  of  H.,  Vol.  3  No.  27,  says  :  "  Sometimes  I 
think  we  have  too  much  written.  I  almost  wish  sometimes 
that  Paul's  Epistles  were  lost.  I  am  sometimes  tempted  to 
wish  that  I  had  more  Gospel  and  less  epistle."  This  outdoes 
the  most  radical  critics,  who  onl}'  ask  to  let  go  what  is  not 
historically  authentic,  if  any  be  such.  Mr.  Dowie  has  laid 
himself  open  to  heresy  trial  upon  the  accepted  standards  of 
his  Zion  movement. 

One  of  the  Zion  officers  gave  me  twelve  reasons  why  he 
left  the  Baptists  and  why  he  believes  the  C.  C.  A.  C.  in  Zion 
is  the  true  church.  Among  them  are  these:  "Faith  once 
for  all  delivered  wasn't  the  Bible  nor  a  system  of  doctrines, 
but  an  active  living  principle  which  moved  early  Cristians  to 

At  other  times  after  he  had  instructed  his  people  to  follow  him  only  so 
tar  as  he  followed  Christ,  he  would  say,  "You  promise  to  follow  me  as  1 
follow  Christ?"  In  unison  they  would  reply,  "Yes  "  "Well,  if  a  doubt 
should  arise  who  would  be  most  likely  to  know  whether  I  am  follow- 
ing Christ?  "    "You  would."  "Then  do  what  I  say." 

Papal  infallibility  is  not  to  be  mentioned  in  comparison  with  this,  and 
it  was  not  only  the  theory,  but  the  practice  of  Zion  before  Mr.  Dowie's 
overthrow. 


THEOLOGY  OF  ZION 


143 


witness  martyrdom  and  to  perform  miracles."  "The  denomi- 
nations sa}'  the  Bible  and  Bible  alone  is  our  religion.  We 
sa3'  that  the  church  is  built  on  present  revelation  and  Word 
of  God,  spoken  by  real  Apostles  who  have  the  signs  of  an 
Apostle  and  the  authority  of  an  Apostle,  speaking  in  accord 
with  the  Word  of  God  in  other  ages."  This  vitiates  the  first 
article  of  the  Zion  agreement  on  doctrine  as  to  the  infallible 
and  sufficient  Holy  Scriptures,  but  was  said  in  the  interests 
of  a  specific  Zion  apology  for  the  supremacy  of  Mr.  Dowie,  as 
it  was  upon  that  point  I  was  crowding  him.  *  These  were 
statements  which  he  had  written  down,  however,  as  he  had 
evidently  apprehended  the  true  significance  of  Mr.  Dowie' s 
assumption  of  the  Apostolate.  The  rank  and  file  would  not 
agree  in  theory  with  him,  altho  during  the  history  of  the 
church  they  have  done  so  practicalh'. 

It  is  not  deemed  a  matter  of  enough  importance  to  discuss 
at  any  great  length  the  method  of  the  Bible  interpretation 
employed  in  Zion.  An  Elder  told  me  that  the  idea  of  prophec.v 
Zion  held  is  one  which  "writes  history  before  it  comes  to 
pass."  This  was  said  apropos  of  a  conversation  in  which 
the  prophesies  which  they  refer  to  Mr.  Dowie  as  "Messenger 
of  the  Covenant,"  "Elijah  the  Restorer,"  etc.,  were  being 
discussed.  Should  you  present  them  the  view  that  the  proph- 
ets were  preachers  of  righteousness  with  a  message  to  their 
contemporaries  and  that  they  did  not  have  a  vision  of  all  com- 
ing events  they  would  regard  you  as  an  atheist  or  infidel. 

Their  theory  of  inspiration  would  come  under  the  designa- 
tion mechanical,  and  their  method  of  interpretation  literal  and 
dogmatic.  When  a  member  of  Zion  says  "  it  is  so,  because 
God  saj's  it  is  so,"  he  means  that  the  words  of  the  Bible,  un- 
criticised,  but  colored  by  the  concepts  current  in  Zion,  origina- 
ting from  Mr.  Dowie,  sa\'  it  is  so. 

Mr.  Dowie,  claiming  to  get  his  conception  from  the  Bible, 

*  The  tendency  in  Zion  at  present  is  to  lop  off  all  Mr.  Dowie's  whim- 
sies as  they  would  be  called  and  get  back  to  the  Word  of  God.  This  was 
the  drift  of  a  short  address  by  Mr.  Voliva,  April  24,  1906,  which  I  heard. 


144 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


speaks  of  Satan  as  the  Defiler  and  Jesus  as  the  Healer.  He 
would  hold  that  a  God  of  love  who  made  the  world  with  all  its 
beauty  and  brightness  does  not  make  wretched,  foul,  destroy- 
ing, disease.    That  is  the  work  of  the  Devil. 

Here  is  a  dualism  in  thought  as  well  as  in  practical  attitude. 
Practically  all  people  feel  a  distinction  between  good  and  evil 
and  have  a  system  of  values  ;  things  pronounced  good  they 
strive  to  attain,  and  their  opposites  they  seek  to  shun.  But 
Mr.  Dowie  conceives  of  origins  thus  —  holiness,  salvation, 
health,  the  good,  come  from  God;  while  evil,  destruction, 
disease,  sin,  are  the  work  of  the  Devil.  An  array  of  scrip- 
ture texts  are  brought  forward  to  establish  this.  "He  that 
doeth  sin  is  of  the  Devil,  for  the  Devil  sinneth  from  the  be- 
ginning ;"  "For  this  end  was  the  son  of  God  manifested, 
that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  Devil;"  i  John  38  ; 
"  How  that  God  anointed  him  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with 
power :  who  went  about  doing  good,  and  healing  all  who  were 
oppressed  of  the  Devil,  for  God  was  with  him."  Acts  10:38. 

Altho  the  Devil  is  the  author  of  sin  and  sickness  in  Mr. 
Dowie's  thinking,  he  finds  no  inconsistency  in  saying,  "God 
over-rules  all  things  and  will  ultimately  triumph  ;"  The  con- 
test he  sets  forth  as  follows:  "Satan  had  a  pre-existence 
before  man  was  created.  Satan,  perhaps,  with  his  host,  once 
dwelt  upon  this  earth,  because  I  have  never  believed  since 
examining  the  subject,  and  the  Scriptures  do  not  teach,  that 
man  was  the  first  inhabitant  of  this  earth.  .  .  .  When  God 
created  Adam  and  in  due  time  Eve,  and  put  them  in  the  gar- 
den of  Eden,  what  was  his  first  command  ?  '  Be  fruitful  and 
multiply  and  replenish  the  earth.'  The  inference  is  clear. 
The  earth  had  once  been  full  of  inhabitants  ;  otherwise  it 
would  have  been  absurd  to  use  the  word  'replenish.'  My 
own  contention  is  that,  in  all  probability,  Satan  had  at  one 
time  with  his  host,  inhabited  the  earth,  had  been  ejected  from 
it,  and  he,  with  a  host  of  disembodied  spirits,  came  up  again 
from  the  depths  of  hell  into  which  they  had  been  cast,  de- 

*  One  notices  the  ancient  abandoned  cosmology,  of  Dante,  for  example. 


THEOLOGY  OF  ZION 


145 


termined  to  repossess  themselves  of  this  earth,  and  they  have 
been  at  it  for  six  thousand  years  and  have  very  largely  suc- 
ceeded in  dominating  the  earth  and  deceiving  man  first  of  all. 
In  what  way  ?  By  means  of  Satan  himself.  The  first  woman 
was  deceived  by  means  of  Satan,  who  broke  through  the 
heavenlj^  watch.  .  .  .  Since  that  time  Satan  is  called  in 
Scripture  '  The  Prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  the  spirit  that 
now  worketh  in  the  children  of  disobedience.'  Our  warfare 
is  therefore  as  Paul  the  Apostle  wrote  'not  against  flesh  and 
blood,  but  against  the  principalities,  against  the  powers, 
against  the  world  rulers  of  this  darkness,  against  the  spiritual 
hosts  of  wickedness  in  heavenly  places,'  or  as  it  might  be 
read,  '  against  the  hosts  of  evil  spirits  in  the  upper  air.'  .  .  . 
Satan  seeking  earthly  embodiment  became  embodied  in  the 
beast  (serpent),  and  became  the  chief  tempter  and  seducer 
of  mankind.  .  .  .  He  was  nearly  ejected  from  the  earth  at 
the  time  of  the  flood,  but  he  deceived  Noah,  and  when  Noah 
had  been  taught  to  plant  the  vine,  Satan  also  entered  into  the 
planning,  and  turned  the  sweet  and  innocent  juice  of  the  grape 
into  a  hellish  poison  by  showing  men  how  to  arrest  the  grape 
in  its  process  of  decay.  .  .  .  Satan  devised  this  sweet  rotten- 
ness and  so  transformed  the  fruit  of  the  vine  as  to  make  it  the 
means  of  the  damnation  of  millions.  Satan  has  been  seeking 
to  possess  man,  body,  soul  and  spirit,  through  all  the  ages, 
and  has  succeeded  is  possessing  himself,  first  of  the  spirit, 
then  of  the  soul,  then  of  the  bod}'.  .  .  .  The  struggle  between 
Satan  and  God  is  first  of  all,  for  the  possession  of  the  spirit 
of  man.  There  are  three  parts  in  man,  not  two.  Man  is  com- 
posed of  spirit,  soul  and  body.  The  spirit  alone  is  immortal, 
not  the  soul.  The  soul  dies.  Christ  himself  said  'My  soul 
is  exceedingly  sorrowful,  even  unto  death.'  The  soul  of  the 
man  and  the  soul  of  the  beast  are  alike.  But  the  distinguishing 
thing  in  man  is  the  spirit.  God  is  the  father  of  our  spirits  and 
our  spirit  is  immortal  because  it  owes  its  origin  to  God.  ... 

The  Son  of  God  was  manifest  that  he  might  destroy  the 
works  of  the  Devil.    What  works  did  he  destroy  ?     '  God 


146 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


anointed  him  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power,  who  went 
about  doing  good  and  healing  all  that  were  oppressed  of 
God?'  Answer,  'No.'  'Of  the  Devil?'  Answer,  'Yes.' 
Why  ?  '  For  God  was  with  him.'  In  Matthew  4:23  it  is 
written  'And  Jesus  went  about  in  all  Gallilee  .  .  .  healing 
all  manner  of  disease  and  all  manner  of  sickness  among  the 
people.'  Nineteen  centuries  ago  every  kind  of  sickness  and 
every  kind  of  disease  was  healed  by  Jesus.  Peter  declares 
that  all  whom  he  healed  were  oppressed  of  the  Devil  ;  if  that 
is  true,  then  nineteen  centuries  ago  every  kind  of  disease  and 
sickness  was  the  work  of  the  Devil.  Can  it  be  God's  work 
to-day?  Answer,  'No.'  Whose?  Answer,  '  The  Devil's.' 
*  It  must  be  so  unless  you  are  going  to  prove  that  God  is 
doing  the  work  to-day  which  the  Devil  used  to  do  nineteen 
centuries  ago.  Now  the  lie  that  God  wills  diseases  has  crept 
into  the  churches,  is  embalmed  in  their  songs,  and  taught 
from  their  pulpits,  that  God  blesses  humanity  by  laying  his 
hand,  full  of  corruption  upon  it  and  making  the  people  sick. 
I  tell  you  this  as  God's  minister  to-day,  there  are  things  that 
God  can  not  do.  ...  It  is  impossible  for  God's  hand  to 
communicate  disease.  ...  It  is  impossible  for  a  being  who 
is  without  disease  to  communicate  disease.  It  is  impossible 
for  God  to  make  people  sinful  or  sick  or  unclean  or  misera- 
ble, for  if  he  did  he  would  then  be  a  fountain  of  sin  and  dis- 
ease. It  is  impossible  for  any  disease  to  come  from  heaven, 
for  in  heaven  there  is  no  sin,  no  disease,  no  death,  and  there- 
fore it  is  impossible  for  any  of  these  things  to  come  from 
there.  No  possibility  exists  that  God  can  be  the  author  of 
disease.  .  .  .  Disease  is  the  result  of  sin,  and  would  not  have 
been  in  the  world  but  for  sin.  To  make  disease  a  part  of  the 
plan  or  purpose  of  God  is  to  make  God  the  father  of  sin  and 
that  would  be  to  transform  God  into  the  Devil." 

The  foregoing  has  been  presented  thus  at  length  to  indicate 
the  method  of  accounting  for  sickness  which  Mr.  Dowie  has 
thoroughly  drilled  into  his  people,  and  also  to  show  his  gene- 
ral style  of  argumentation.    Without  endeavoring  to  refute 


THEOLOGY  OF  ZION 


147 


his  logic  it  might  be  well  simply  to  notice  that  the  entire  argu- 
ment goes  upon  the  presupposition  that  the  thought-forms 
used  b}'  the  Bible  writers  of  Old  and  New  Testaments  are  in 
themselves  truths  of  revelation,  that  all  their  terminology, 
irrespective  of  historical  or  literary  relationship,  corresponds 
to  reality.  It  indicates  absolute  innocence  of  any  knowledge 
of  modern  cosmograph\-  or  cosmology.  It  would  hardly  sug- 
gest the  knowledge  of  the  theor\-  of  Copernicus  and  is  as 
naive  as  it  is  presumptuous,  for  to  the  statements  of  Scripture, 
the  results  of  an  uncontrolled  imagination  are  added  and 
made  sj-nonymous  with  truth.  There  is  no  answer  to  such 
an  argument  starting  with  the  presuppositions  which  Mr. 
Dowie  and  his  people  all  .accept  uncritically,  unless  we  can 
find  an  array  of  contrary  texts,  or  texts  which  lend  themselves 
as  proof  of  contrary  propositions  when  reinforced  by  a  little 
personal  imagination  or  fancj'  of  our  own. 

This  position  with  regard  to  disease  is  not  new,  or  is  it 
held  to-day  b^'  Mr.  Dowie  alone.  In  the  tracts  of  Evangelist 
J.  J.  Scruby,  of  Dayton,  Ohio,*  who  carries  on  quite  an 
active  propaganda  we  find  the  same  literalism,  the  same  tri- 
chotomous  psychology,  the  same  dualism  in  philosophy.  In 
one  of  these  tracts  the  statement  is  made  "as  we  read  the 
story  of  creation  we  would  be  impressed  with  the  fact  that 
God  did  not  make  sickness,  on  the  contrary  all  was  ver^-  good. 
There  was  a  condition  of  soundness  and  health  and  freedom 
from  mortality  and  pain,  so  that  God  looking  upon  it  could 
say  it  was  '  very  good.'  We  would  come  to  look  upon  that  as 
the  ideal  condition  of  life,  and  as  we  followed  it  on  we  would 
find  it  was  going  back  to  that  at  last ;  that  the  goal  and  hope 
and  prophecy  is  a  world  where  there  will  be  no  disease.  Our 
•natural  conclusion,  therefore,  is  that  disease  was  abnormal 
and  unnatural,  that  it  was  something  that  must  have  sprung 

*in  these  tracts  various  persons,  ministers  and  laymen,  express  their 
views,  finding  a  sort  of  clearing  fiouse  in  tfiis  way  for  tlieir  kindred  ideas, 
so  that  they  represent  the  thouglit  of  quite  a  large  group  of  persons. 


148 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


from  a  more  deep,  malign  evil  not  in  the  constitution  of  na- 
ture. .  .  .  It  came  through  the  fall  of  Adam." 

Again  in  discussing  the  "  Manner  of  the  acceptance  of  the 
doctrine  of  Divine  Healing,"  we  find  the  statement  from  Mr, 
Scruby  that  "the  personality  of  the  Devil  must  be  recognized. 
This  is  a  most  important  requirement.  Freedom  implies  the 
existence  of  bondage,  victory  the  existence  of  an  enemy.  The 
Devil  is  a  person.  He  is  powerful.  He  is  the  author  of 
physical  suffering,  as  we  see  in  the  case  of  Job,  Job  2:7;  of 
those  who  were  the  recipients  of  Christ's  healing  power, 
Acts,  10:38,  and  the  mention  of  the  woman  healed  in  Luke 
13:11-16." 

Both  Mr.  Dowie  and  Mr.  Scruby  hold  that  sin  and  sickness 
are  realities  and  the  vast  majority  of  us  hold  with  them  in 
this  as  against  Christian  Science.  Yet  neither  would  hardly 
be  conscious  that  he  has  a  philosophy  of  suffering. 

Somewhat  different  is  the  explanation  given  by  the  teacher 
of  theology  in  Zion,  although  he  aims  to  follow  Mr.  Dowie 
all  too  slavishly.  He  says,  "There  is  scarcely  developed 
yet  a  scientific  body  of  doctrine  in  Zion.  We  are  'restoring' 
old  scriptural  doctrines  where  they  have  been  lost  sight  of  in 
the  church.  But  we  hardlj'  think  of  psychology  or  theology 
or  trichotomy.  In  a  certain  sense  we  are  presenting  a  sort  of 
dualism,  and  yet  not  so,  for  God  is  preached  as  the  superior 
of  Jesus.  Satan  is  put  as  the  opponent  of  Jesus  and  to  be 
overcome  by  Jesus  so  that  the  one  good  power  is  transcend- 
ent and  sovereign  and  the  Devil  is  to  be  out  of  the  ring  soon, 
and  some  day  Jesus  is  to  hand  back  the  kingdom  to  God. 
(i  Cor.  15:28).  Dualism  contends  for  two  powers  and  both 
equal.  Persian  Dualism  says  the  conflict  is  unending,  but 
ours  is  a  more  transient  conflict  between  good  and  evil,  with 
the  certainty  of  a  comparatively  speedy  victory  for  right  and 
truth.  We  start  with  God.  Satan  is  a  created  angel  who 
fell  into  rebellion  and  inveigled  the  human  race  into  that  re- 
bellion. Jesus,  who  himself  contends  that  "  my  Father  is 
greater  than  I,"  is  superior  to  the  Devil,  therefore  I  could 


THEOLOGY  OF  ZION 


149 


hardly  call  our  philosophj'  a  dualism.  We  do  believe  that 
man's  will  is  free  and  that  God  has  permitted  man's  will  to 
accept  the  evil  and  we  la^-  at  the  door  of  evil  powers  the  evil 
in  the  world,  but  it  has  been  permitted  by  God  and  is  over- 
ruled by  Him  in  His  infinite  sovereignty  for  the  good  of  man, 
but  we  insist  on  the  distinction  between  permission  and  com- 
mission. If  God  permits  man's  will  to  act  freely  you  could 
hardly  put  man  therefore  on  an  equality  with  God  in  a  dual- 
istic  conception,  nor  can  we  do  so  with  the  Devil.  He  is 
permitted  to  act  freeh'  in  temptation  and  man  is  allowed  to 
act  freely  in  accepting  the  offers  of  evil  or  rejecting  them, 
but  God  is  Sovereign.  We  see  evil  as  a  practical  reality 
and  can't  get  back  of  it,  so  it  is  practically  infinite,  or  to 
state  it  in  another  way,  what  we  can  see  and  can't  see  over  is 
as  good  as  the  infinite. 

"  I  think  you  get  your  conception  of  Dualism  from  the  fact 
that  we  insist  on  laying  disease  and  disaster  to  the  Devil. 
God  is  a  God  of  law.  He  keeps  those  laws  in  operation  for 
the  good  of  man.  But  if  man  goes  across  the  law,  God  does 
not  change  the  law.  Man  must  suffer  and  man  must  repent 
and  come  into  harmon}-  with  the  law  or  continue  to  suffer. 
The  Devil's  business  seems  to  be  to  tempt  man  to  disobey  and 
as  in  the  case  of  a  burned  hand  the  consequences  of  perverted 
relation  to  specific  law  are  felt.  Man's  problem  is  to  learn 
God's  laws  and  willingly  obey  them.  God  is  working  out 
this  problem  and  when  he  gets  it  finished  God  will  be  all  in 
all  and  man's  freedom  will  be  unimpaired.  But  we  say  God 
did  not  burn  the  hand,  altho  it  was  His  power  operating  in  the 
law,  God  is  legally  but  not  morally  responsible,  or,  as  Dr. 
Dowie  puts  it.  He  permits  but  does  not  commit  these  destruc- 
tive acts,  they  are  morally  the  Devil's.  We  do  believe  in  the 
fall  of  Adam,  altho  Dr.  Dowie  has  not  strongh-  e.xpressed 
himself  on  that  question.  .  .  .  He  has  expressed  his  belief  in 
a  pre-Adamic  race  of  some  sort  on  the  earth  and  believes  that 
the  earth  was  'replenished.'  .  .  .  I  hold  to  the  essential  truth 
of  the  Adam  story  of  the  fall.    All  that  I  know  about  the  Bible 


150 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


and  about  salvation  fits  with  perfect  consistency  into  that 
view.  There  is  nothing  in  print  that  I  think  of  at  present  about 
the  Adam  question." 

Mr.  Dowie's  psychology  or  three-fold  division  of  man  is 
not  an  entirely  new  theory.  He  sets  it  forth  for  practical 
purposes  in  his  preaching  in  a  pamphlet  "  Sanctification  of 
Spirit  Soul  and  Body."  Theoretically  it  is  represented  graph- 
ically thus  : 


This  he  says  shows  the  tripartate  nature  of  man  and  the  in- 
dwelling nature  of  God.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  represented  as 
the  center  of  all.  The  three  words  in  speaking  of  man's  being 
are  pneuma  (spirit)  psyche  (soul)  and  soma  (body).  The 
line  connecting  the  circles  is  used  to  illustrate  the  flowing 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  through  the  entire  three-fold  nature  of 
man  thus  sanctifying  him  wholly  and  preserving  him  without 
blame. 


THEOLOGY  OF  ZION 


151 


"We  are  not  a  duality  composed  of  soul  and  body,  but  we 
are  a  trinity  composed  of  spirit,  soul  and  body.  This  is  a 
divinelj'  revealed  construction  of  man.  Human  philosophy 
and  ordinary  Christian  pulpit  teaching  have  made  man  to  have 

only  two  parts  —  soul  and  bod\  and  confounded  soul  and 

spirit.   Now  what  is  the  difference  between  the  soul  and  spirit? 

I  must,  at  the  risk  of  being  charged  with  being  technical 
make  plain  to  you  some  very  neglected  teaching  in  this  mat- 
ter— teaching  which  the  church  of  God  almost  wholly  misses. 

In  doing  this  we  have  to  show,  first  of  all,  how  God  made 
the  lower  creation  and  then  how  God  made  man.  If  we  study 
by  the  light  of  Holy  Scripture,  we  shall  see  the  difference  be- 
tween the  lower  creation  and  man,  and  thereby  make  clear  the 
tripartate  nature  of  man.  Take  your  Bibles  and  read  the 
twentieth  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  'And  God 
said  let  the  waters  bring  forth  abundanth'  the  moving  crea- 
ture that  hath  life.'  The  margin  says  that  word  'life'  is 
'  living  soul '  in  the  original  tongue.  Then  j^ou  see  that  this 
passage  teaches  that  the  fish  of  the  sea  all  have  souls.  It 
does  not  saj'  that  they  have  a  spirit,  but  they  all  have  souls. 

Let  us  go  to  the  thirtieth  verse  :  '  And  to  every  beast  of 
the  earth,  and  to  every  fowl  of  the  air,  and  to  everything  that 
creepeth  upon  the  earth  wherein  there  is  life.'  Margin  again 
savs  the  Hebrew  is  'a  living  soul.'  This  passage  teaches 
distincth-  that  ever}'  beast  of  the  earth  and  every  fowl  of  the  air 
has  a  living  soul.  You  are  sometimes  asked,  what  is  the  soul  ? 
These  passages  supply  the  answer.  The  soul  is  the  animal 
life.  The  soul  is  not  spiritual  at  all.  One  of  the  most  stupid 
things  the  Christian  can  do  is  to  argue  for  the  '  immortality 
of  the  soul.' 

I  shall  presently  show  you  how  right  it  is  to  argue  for  the 
immortality  of  the  spirit,  but,  let  me  warn  you,  never  argue 
for  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  You  will  plunge  yourself  into 
a  sea  of  confusion  if  you  do  and  give  your  adversaries  an 
essential  advantage  which  will  put  you  to  shame.  Christians 
make  a  tremendous  blunder  by  confounding  soul  and  spirit. 


152 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


If  you  refer  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  yqp  will  see  that  it 
is  the  Word  of  God  which  makes  this  distinction,  a  distinction 
unknown  for  the  most  part,  to  Christian  theologians  who  are 
ver}-  largely  teachers  of  false  theology.  The^-  are  as  blind  as 
bats  to  the  essential  difference  between  spirit  and  soul  and 
talk  about  the  salvation  of  the  soul  when  the_v  mean  the  Spirit. 
What  does  it  sa\'  here?  'The  Word  of  God  is  living,  and  ac- 
tive, and  sharper  than  anj'  two-edged  sword,  and  piercing  even 
to  the  dividing  of  the  soul  and  spirit,  of  both  joints  and  marrow, 
and  quick  to  discern  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart.' 

It  is  the  Word  of  God  then  that  shows  the  division  be- 
tween soul  and  spirit.  .  .  .  Look  at  the  second  chapter  of 
Genesis,  seventh  verse :  '  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man 
of  the  dust  of  the  ground.'  That  is  the  body.  Do  not  make 
any  mistake  about  it.  Our  bodies  are  dust,  and  the  vainest 
woman  who  carries  a  millinery  shop  on  the  top  of  her  head, 
and  the  most  foolish  woman  who  purchases  her  complexion  in 
a  paint  shop,  or  the  silliest  dude,  is  only  a  bag  of  dust.  Let 
us  consider  the  other  two  parts.  '  And  God  breathed  into 
man's  nostrils  the  breath  of  life  and  man  became  a  living 
soul.'  The  '  breath  of  life  '  which  God  'breathed'  into  man 
is  the  spirit  ;  and  the  '  living  soul'  which  man  became  is  the 
soul  or  animal  life,  distinct  and  separate  in  all  respects  from 
the  spirit.  God  imparted  to  man  His  own  spirit  and  nature. 
God  is  the  '  Father'  of  man's  spirit.  He  is  the  Father  of  the 
spirit,  but  not  of  the  soul.  He  is  the  maker  of  the  soul  and 
body,  but  not  the  Father  of  it.  .  .  .  In  Christ  the  perfect 
man  we  see  a  perfectly  pure  spirit  :  as  scriptures  say  '  a  life- 
giving  spirit.'  ...  In  Christ  you  see  the  perfection  of  this 

three-fold  nature  First,  the  body  of  Christ  was  like  our 

bodies,  a  human  body.  It  was  pure  and  sinless  because  of 
God's  origination.  Second,  His  soul  was  a  merely  human 
soul,  but  His  spirit  was  divine." 

*  As  has  been  indicated,  all  these  views  are  the  result  of  wrong  views 
and  use  of  Scripture.  For  corrective  principle,  see  W.  N.  Clarke,  "The 
Use  of  the  Scriptures  in  Theology." 


THEOLOGY  OF  ZION 


153 


It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  quote  further  to  be  able  to  see 
the  process  of  argumentation  by  which  the  belief  of  Mr.  Dowie 
in  trichotomy  is  jupported.  So  far  as  I  know  all  believers  in 
'  Divine  Healing  are  trichotomists  in  psvchologv  and  have  a 
rather  sharply  defined  distinction  between  the  three  parts  of 
man's  nature.  They  of  course  hold  to  the  literal  veracity  of 
the  Word  of  God  which  is  synonymous  with  the  letter  of  the 
Bible. 

A  somewhat  unusual  position  of  Mr.  Dowie  is  that  with  re- 
spect to  the  doctrine  of  immortality.  He  is  a  believer  in  the 
death  of  the  soul  but  of  the  immortality  of  the  spirit.  It 
seems  to  come  logically  out  of  his  psychology,  and  his  ideas 
with  regard  to  the  origin  of  man,  and  makes  a  sharp  distinc- 
tion betweed  God  acting  directh',  and  through  nature.  The 
soul  is  temporal  and  not  eternal.  This  he  supports  by  show- 
ing that  the  soul  of  Christ  died.  "  The  prophet  Isaiah  said 
that  God  would  make  his  'soul  a  sacrifice  for  sin,'  that 
He  would  'pour  out  His  soul  unto  death.'  Christ  himself 
said,  'My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful  even  unto  death.' 
Then  his  soul  died.  He  said  Himself  '  I  am  the  Good  Shep- 
herd. The  Good  Shepherd  giveth  His  life  for  the  sheep.' 
The  word  translated  'life'  there  is  Psyche,  Soul.  In  the 
tenth  chapter  of  John  the  word  'life'  should  be  translated 
soul.  '  The  Good  Shepherd  giveth  His  soul  for  .the  sheep.' 
There  is  no  question  about  it.  'Christ  poured  out  His  soul 
unto  death.'  .  .  .  Some  of  you  all  your  lives  have  been  de- 
fending the  '  immortalit3'  of  the  soul,'  and  you  have  been 
taught  to  do  so  by  3'our  ministers,  who  do  not  like  to  confess 
that  they  have  been  teaching  error.  .  .  .  Many  serious  errors 
have  crept  into  theology  because  of  this.  Christians  have 
been  arguing  for  the  immortalit}'  of  the  soul,  and  the  infidel 
has  been  flogging  you  with  the  Bible  every  time.  The  infidel 
quotes  Scripture  at  you,  and  flings  at  your  head  *  The  soul 
that  sinneth  it  shall  die,'  and  asks,  *  How  can  a  thing  be 
immortal  that  can  die  ?"  .  .  .  I  want  to  settle  this  question  as 
to  the  separation  of  soul  and  spirit:  for  this  separation  gives 


154 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


answer  to  an  error,  the  doctrinal  error  which  is  called  '  condi- 
tional immortality.'  There  is  no  more  dangerous  falsehood. 
I  may  grieve  some  persons  by  saying  it,  who  may  be  true 
Christians,  but  there  is  no  more  dangerous  falsehood  than  the 
falsehood  which  teaches  that  man  is  not  essentially  immortal, 
but  that  man  is  only  conditionally  immortal,  and  that  there- 
fore, a  man,  if  he  is  not  saved,  will  be  annihilated  utterly  ; 
that  his  spiritual  nature  will  pass  away  like  his  psychical  and 
physical  nature,  and  that,  unless  he  is  a  Christian  he  will  not 
live  forever.  I  want  to  tell  \'OU  that  it  is  a  dangerous  lie  for  this 
reason  :  If  a  man  sees  that  he  can  die  like  an  animal,  he  will 
in  thousands  of  cases  live  like  an  animal.  When  you  tell  a 
sinful  man  that  he  is  to  die  like  a  dog  then  he  says,  '  I  will 
live  like  a  dog.'  .  .  .  Let  that  man  see  that  there  is  no  here- 
after, and  no  penalty  for  sin,  and  he  will  live  a  life  of  such 
abounding  wickedness  that  only  hell  itself  can  find  an  equal 
to  it.  Conscience  would  be  almost  annihilated.  ...  I  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  every  one  of  those  who  were  disobe- 
dient in  the  da3's  of  Noah  were  living  in  the  days  of  Christ. 
For  more  than  three  thousand  years  their  miserable  spirits 
lived  in  the  hope  of  Christ's  redemption.  And  he  came  to 
them  in  the  fullness  of  time,  as  is  shown  in  i  Peter  3:19,  20. 
He  descended  into  Hades.  He  'preached  to  the  spirits  in 
prison,  which  aforetime  were  disobedient,  when  once  the 
long-suffering  of  God  had  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah.'  They 
had  been  in  hell  for  thousands  of  3'ears.  They  were  not  anni- 
hilated even  tho  damned.  They  were  living.  The  spirit 
lives  beyond  the  grave.  The  spirit  of  the  just  man  is  made 
perfect  in  heaven,  even  as  the  spirit  of  the  evil  man  may  be 
made  viler  in  hell.  .  .  .  But  I  tell  you  this  in  Christ's  name. 
God  is  the  Father  of  this  spirit ;  the  spirit  of  man  shares  the 
nature  of  the  Father.  Therefore  since  God  is  immortal  so 
are  we  ;  since  our  Father  is  eternal  so  are  we.  But  if  on  the 
other  hand  if  our  spirit  is  not  immortal,  neither  is  God's  be- 
cause we  have  his  nature,  '  we  are  his  offspring,'  and  we  share 
his  nature." 


THEOLOGY  OF  ZION 


155 


We  must  remember  that  all  this  discussion  is  not  purely 
academic,  altho  it  is  in  the  region  of  dialectics.  Mr.  Dowie 
is  simply  trying  to  enforce  the  idea  of  the  sanctity  of  the  body 
as  the  dwelling  place  of  the  spirit  of  God  and  insists  in  keep- 
ing it  clean  and  free  from  sin  and  vice.  In  order  to  do  this 
he  thus  at  length  treats  of  the  nature  of  man. 

Hardly  more  than  a  mention  need  be  made  of  some  of  the 
more  peculiar  teachings  of  Zion,  as  among  a  people  of  such 
rigid  literalism  in  Scripture  interpretation  almost  every  va- 
gary that  unlearned  exegesis  has  suggested  finds  favor  with 
one  or  more  individuals  as  coming  under  the  head  of  '  all  other 
questions  are  matters  of  opinion."  But  no  one  has  been 
allowed  to  print  a  tract  or  treatise  of  any  kind  which  could 
not  pass  the  rigid  scrutiny  and  meet  the  favor  of  Mr.  Dowie.* 
The  Ecclesiastical  Secretary  may  keep  Saturdaj'  as  the  Sab- 
bath, jew  fashion,  and  eat  no  meat,  but  he  is  not  followed  in 
this  by  any  considerable  number  of  Zionites.  Another  officer 
may  have  certain  ideas  of  his  own  about  a  glorified  body,  and 
soul  sleeping,  but  all  he  can  do  is  to  talk  it  privately  or  in  a 
small  group  of  persons  of  similar  belief. 

A  peculiarity  with  respect  to  the  Zion  doctrine  of  atone- 
ment simph-  needs  to  be  mentioned  as  in  most  respects  as  has 
been  said  their  teachings  would  be  looseh^  classed  as  evan- 
gelical. 

They  hold  that  Divine  Healing  rests  upon  the  Atonement 
of  Christ.  That  "  He  hath  borne  our  griefs  (sicknesses)  and 
carried  our  sorrows,  .  .  .  and  with  His  stripes  we  are  healed," 
which  was  declared  to  have  been  fulfilled  in  Jesus  in  his  min- 
istry of  Healing  (Matthew  8:17)  shows,  that  the  atonement  of 
Christ  provides  for  health  and  healing  as  well  as  salvation. 

All  those  in  Zion  so  far  as  I  know  are  Premillenialists,  and 
believe  in  the  spectacular  Second  coming  of  Christ,  but  there 
is  no  official  program  of  the  events  of  the  future  of  an  apoca- 

*Mr.  Voliva  has  stated  that  the  Leaves  will  be  open  for  those  who 
have  anything  worth  printing.  We  will  await  with  interest  to  see  what 
this  will  bring  torth. 


156 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


lyptical  nature  to  which  all  give  assent.  *  All  believe  in  the 
restoration  of  all  things,  but  there  is  hopeless  confusion  if  you 
begin  questioning  around  among  the  people  as  to  what  they 
mean  b}-  the  expression.  There  is  a  medley  of  notions  on 
such  subjects  and  to  sift  out  the  generally  accepted  is  hardly 
possible  unless  one  could  formulate  propositions  and  secure  a 
vote,  for  or  against. 

*  Mr.  Dowie  puts  it  thus  in  his  pamphlet,  "Sanctification  of  Triune 
Man:  " 

Lord  Jesus,  Come ! 
The  Bride,  the  Church,  with  longing  eyes 
Looks  through  the  gloom  to  yon  bright  skies, 
Where  radiant  shines  her  home  above, 
And  thus  she  chants  her  prayer  of  love: 
"Sweet  Bridegroom,  come  !  'tis  midnight  hour. 
And  virgin  souls  await  Thy  power." 

Lord  Jesus,  Come  ! 

Lord  Jesus,  Come  ! 
Thine  answer  sweet  our  spirits  hear. 
It  soothes  our  grief,  we  cannot  fear. 
It  came  to  him  on  Patmos  Isle, 
Who  loved  and  lived  on  earth  awhile  ; 
It  comes  to  us— "  1  QUICKLY  COME." 
Yea,  "Even  so,  Lord  Jesus,  Come  !" 

Lord  Jesus,  Come ! 

WHEN  JESUS  COMES  THERE  WILL  BE  AN  END  OF  EVIL. 

He  will  put  down  all  rule,  all  authority  and  power,  and  will  reign  and 
rule  in  every  heart.  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  no  longer  be  at 
strife  and  at  war,  for  they  shall  "become  the  Kingdom  of  our  God,  and 
of  His  Christ." 

God,  hasten  the  time.  Hasten  the  time  when  spirits  redeemed,  and 
the  souls  that  Thou  has  purified,  and  the  bodies  that  Thou  hast  made  Thy 
temple  shall  go  forth  in  millions  to  tell  others  that  there  is  a  God  of  purity 
who  can  make  the  vilest  sinner  clean,  and  is  willing  to  make  you  and  me 
pure  in  spirit,  and  in  soul,  and  in  body. 

That  is  all  my  message.    1  have  no  other. 

But  1  demand,  as  God's  .Messenger,  that  you  shall  seek  Him,  and  Him 
alone,  and  do  what  He  tells  you,  and  no  other. 


THEOLOGY  OF  ZION 


157 


The  matter  of  demon  possession  deserves  some  attention, 
as  it  is  closely  related  to  the  question  of  divine  healing.  It, 
like  all  other  ideas,  comes  from  a  literal  interpretation  of 
Scripture.  The  popular  terminology  is  followed  here  by  Mr. 
Dowie  who  speaks  indiscriminately  of  "devils"  and  "having  a 
devil."  He  does  not  stick  as  closely  to  the  original  of  the 
Greek  New  Testament  here  as  in  the  discussion  of  some  ques- 
tions. The  New  Testament  knows  of  but  one  Devil,  spoken 
of  as  a  personal  being  by  the  writers  who  use  the  masculine 
article  with  the  word  diabolos,  Devil.  The  uniform  New 
Testament  conception  is  demon  possession  not  devil  posses- 
sion, (cf.  Matthew  8:31,  Mark  5:12,  Luke  8:29,  in  R.  V). 

Mr.  Dowie  regards  all  the  world  as  being  under  the  domin- 
ion of  the  Devil,  who  is  being  disempowered  by  the  Son  of 
God  who  began  the  ministry  during  His  earthly  life  when 
"He  was  manifested  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  Devil." 
This  conception  is  usually  coupled  with  that  of  the  imminent 
return  of  Christ.  "AH  disease  is  the  oppression  of  the  Devil, 
but  there  are  some  which  are  possessions  by  the  Devil,  or  by 
Devils,"  he  says,*  after  quoting  Luke  13:11,  "And  behold 
there  was  a  woman  which  had  a  spirit  of  infirmity  eighteen 
years."  "Not  an  infirmity  you  will  notice,  but  a  '  spirit  of 
infirmity.'  " 

After  commenting  upon  this  for  a  time  he  quotes  further 
the  words  of  Jesus,  Luke  13:16,  "And  ought  not  this  woman, 
being  a  daughter  of  Abraham,  whom  Satan  has  bound,  lo, 
these  eighteen  years,  he  loosed  from  this  bond  on  the  Sab- 
bath day  ?"  Of  course  all  this  is  so  general  that  it  is  difficult 
to  be  certain  in  what  sense  Mr.  Dowie  and  Zion  hold  to  de- 
mon possession  as  such,  in  spite  of  the  numerous  references 
to  devils  making  people  sick  or  subjecting  them  to  evil  habits 
and  the  like. 

All  this,  however,  is  a  piece  with  primitive  conceptions 
wherein  all  obsessions  or  dreams  and  visions  were  regarded 

*  Pamphlet,  "Doctors,  Drugs  and  Devils." 


158 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


as  visitations  of  a  spirit  or  the  entrance  of  a  spirit  into  the 
person. 

"Ancient  ps\'chology,  survived  still,  according  to  which 
manifestations  of  the  mysterious  inner  life  of  the  soul,  mental 
processes,  were  the  manifestations  of  some  external  agent. 
In  ancient  times  'it  was  not  we  ourselves,  but  a  demon,  an 
angel,  or  a  spirit  that  was  the  efficent  cause ;  sometimes  this 
agent  is  conceived  of  as  intimately  connected  with  our  soul, 
but  at  others  he  is  an  entireh'  extraneous  being.  Here  we 
have  the  origin  of  the  conception  not  only  of  demoniacal  pos- 
session, but  of  that  of  the  Holy  Spirit.'  (Wernle,  Begin- 
nings of  Cristianity,  Vol.  i,  p.  6)."  * 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Jesus  spoke  of  demon  posses- 
sion and  held  to  the  idea  that  an  alien  spirit  could  enter  and 
inhabit  a  human  body.  At  least  so  his  biographers  represent 
him  in  the  Gospels.  He  healed  many  persons  by  driving  out 
the  demons  which  had  caused  various  diseases  and  disorders 
especially  of  a  neurotic  sort,  t 

Whether  we  are  to  regard  this  as  a  final  explanation  of 
disease,  especially  of  certain  kinds,  is  perhaps  the  same  kind 
of  a  question  as  to  whether  we  are  to  think  that  the  biblical 
statements  about  the  earth  and  the  sun,  for  example,  are  final 
in  astronomy.  It  is  a  qyestion  as  to  whether  the  meaning  of 
the  New  Testament  is  necessarily  the  teaching  of  the  New 
Testament. 

Mr.  Dowie  is  within  the  meaning  of  the  New  Testament 
when  he  speaks  of  demon  possession  causing  disease  and  the 
casting  out  of  the  demon,  a  cure.  It  is  to  be  doubted  if  he 
could  show  that  all  disease  is  of  the  devil  even  from  the  con- 
ceptions current  in  New  Testament  times  as  reflected  by  its  ^ 
writers.    That  is  another  question,  however. 

J.  L.  Nevins,  in  "Demon  Possession  and  Allied  Themes," 
has  shown  by  an  extensive  search  for  examples  that  demon 

*G.  B.  Foster,  Finality  of  the  Christian  Religion,  p.  78,  Note  2,  who 
quotes  Wernle. 

f  Cf.  Foster,  op.  cit.  p.  408  ff.,  for  discussion  of  this  subject. 


THEOLOGY  OF  ZIOX 


159 


possession  of  the  same  sort  as  is  found  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  found  to-day  quite  extensively  in  Shantung,  China, 
and  in  India,  Japan,  and  even  in  Christian  countries.  He 
accepts  the  biblical  theory  of  accounting  for  such  phenomena 
and  says.*  "The  Bible  recognizes  not  only  the  material 
world,  but  a  spiritual  world  intimately  connected  with  it,  and 
spiritual  beings,  both  good  and  bad,  who  have  access  to,  and 
influence,  for  good  or  ill,  the  world's  inhabitants."  This  is 
true  and  from  Mr.  Dowie's  standpoint  of  authority  he  is  per- 
fectly consistent  in  believing  in  demon  possession  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  modern  psychology  explains  these  phenomena, 
such  as  absession,  epilepsy,  or  any  form  of  "possession" 
differently. 

The  polity  of  Zion  has  really  been  the  policy  of  Mr.  Dowie. 
True  he  has  sought  a  scriptural  authority  for  most  of  his 
ideas  with  regard  to  the  church.  It  is  now  decided  that  the 
regime  under  Deputy  Overseer  Voliva  will  retrench  or  reorgan- 
ize even  along  ecclesiastical  lines  and  endeavor  to  get  back  to 
the  simplicity  of  the  organization  as  it  was  at  the  beginning 
in  1896.  There  will  be  no  apostles,  at  least  for  the  present, 
and  prophets  are  also  under  the  ban,  altho  theoretically  all 
the  gifts  of  I  Corinthians  12:28  are  to  be  restored  to  the  church. 
"And  God  hath  set  some  in  the  church,  first  apostles,  sec- 
ondly prophets,  thirdly  teachers,  then  miracles,  then  gifts  of 
healing,  helps,  governments,  divers  kinds  of  tongues." 

Mr.  Dowie  was  well  under  way  In  the  work  of  restoring  the 
gifts  and  offices  to  the  church  as  the  C.  C.  A.  C.  in  Zion  when 
the  revolt  came.  We  have  noticed  in  the  Introduction,  the 
different  officers  he  had  already  arranged  for  and  who  were 
administering  the  ecclesiastical  and  commercial  work  of  Zion. 
It  is  not  known  just  what  form  the  organization  will  henceforth 
take  as  circumstances  will  have  much  to  do  with  it. 

It  is  quite  clear  now,  however,  from  the  utterances  of  Mr. 
Voliva  that  the  Bible  will  be  the  sole  court  of  appeal  as  a 
standard  of  faith  and  practice  and  the  interpretation  will  be 

*  p.  243. 


i6o  JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 

based  upon  the  same  philosophical  and  psycological  presup 
positions  in  the  main,  as  were  held  by  Mr.  Dowie  in  his  earlie 
ministry. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THK    PEOPLE   OF  ZIOX. 

There  is  no  nonsense  so  transparent,  no  crotchet  so  ridicu- 
lous, no  system  so  unreasonable,  that  it  can  not  find  advocates 
and  disciples."  * 

The  foregoing  statement  is  doubtless  true,  and  we  might 
say,  therefore,  John  Alexander  Dowie,  the  Apostle  of  Divine 
Healing,  and  prophet  of  a  restoration  gospel,  found  his  fol- 
lowers, and  made  advocates  for  his  doctrines.  But  it  is  neces- 
sarj'  to  ascertain  just  what  are  the  characteristics  which  led  this 
peculiar  people  to  adopt  the  views  of  this  peculiar  man,  or 
rather  what  are  the  reasons  whj-  people  of  these  peculiar  char- 
acteristics, if  they  are  peculiar  or  unusual,  were  led  to  accept 
the  dictatorshi])  of  Mr.  Dowie,  which  dictatorship  he  has 
veiled  under  certain  supposed  scriptural  offices  and  functions, 
such  as  Messenger  of  the  Covenant,  Prophet,  Restorer  and 
Apostle. 

We  have  noticed  that  the  ground  had  been  prepared  pre- 
vious to  his  coming,  and  that  belief  in  divine  heabng  was  no 
new  thing  under  the  sun.  We  have  seen  also  that  many  of 
the  ideas  which  he  advanced,  had  advocates,  more  or  less 
bold  and  aggressive,  among  the  churches,  to  which  Mr.  Dowie 
has  always  appealed  for  a  hearing.  We  have  noticed  that  a 
large  number  of  people,  especialh'  those  holding  these  views, 
were,  or  were  ready  to  be,  out  of  conceit  with  the  churches. 

We  now  examine  some  first-hand  testimony  as  to  just  what 
sort  of  folk  these  people  are  who  have  come  under  the  pater- 
nal sway  of  Mr.  Dowie,  since  it  was  he  and  not  some  other, 

*E.  P.  Whipple,  Essay,  "Croakers,"  Vol.  11,  p.  86. 


l62 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


at  least  for  the  time,  who  caught  their  attention  and  enlisted 
them  in  his  tithe-paying  C.  C.  A.  C.  in  Zion.  * 

Personal  letters  from  members  of  Zion  : — 

"  I  was  born  and  raised  a  Lutheran.  Sunday  before  Christ- 
mas in  1896,  I  repented  and  confessed  my  sins  and  gave  my 
heart  to  God  and  God  gave  me  the  witness  in  my  spirit  that  I 
was  a  child  of  God.  I  began  studying  my  Bible  and  looking 
round  for  a  living  church  to  join,  I  went  to  all  the  denomina- 
tions ;  I  studied  their  doctrines  beside  the  Bible,  but  none  of 
them  came  up  to  the  standard  of  the  Bible.  First  Sunday  of 
April,  1897,  I  went  and  heard  Mr.  Dowie  preach.  I  saw  and 
understood  he  was  filled  with  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
I  fell  in  love  with  him.  ...  I  subscribed  for  the  Leaves  of 
Healing  and  studied  them  beside  the  Bible  and  I  was  blessed 
in  spirit  soul  and  body.  I  do  believe  in  all  Mr.  Dowie  claims 
to  be.  As  Messenger  of  the  Covenant,  see  Mai.  3:1-6.  As 
Elijah  the  Restorer,  see  Matt.  17:10-13.  Matt.  11:14.  Mai. 
4:5-6.  As  the  Prophet  foretold  by  Moses  see  Acts  3:22-25, 
Will  send  you  Leaves  of  Healing  and  various  tracts.  ...  I 
will  pray  for  you." 

"We,  that  is  my  husband  and  myself  were  members  of  the 
Evangelical  Association  when  we  heard  of  the  work  Dr.  Dowie 
was  doing,  and  so  I  went  first  to  hear  him  and  found  it  was 
Bible  truth  that  he  was  preaching,  salvation,  healing  and  holy 
living,  all  taught  so  ]:)lainly.  How  new  it  seemed  that  people 
were  being  healed  and  still  it  is  just  what  Jesus  did  when 
here  on  earth.  .  .  .  We  commenced  to  get  answers  to  prayer 

*The  very  fact,  admitted  by  Mr.  Dowie.  and  witnessed  by  ail  the  Zion 
peopie  1  have  known,  that  the  large  majority  of  his  people  have  come  out 
of  the  denominations,  would  in  itself  at  least  suggest  these  peopie  to  be 
unstable,  and  accessible  to  any  religious  leader  of  strong  enough  person- 
ality. Many  who  have  been  in  sympathy  with  the  teachings  of  Zion  in 
general,  h^ve  remained  in  the  churches,  because  of  other  lies  and  the 
inertia  of  religious  life,  and  failure  to  fully  sympathize  with  all  the  claims 
of  Mr.  Dowie,  or  a  strong  revulsion  against  being  called  a  fanatic  or  schis- 
matic, which  attitude  Mr.  Dowie  in  person,  or  by  his  literature  or  his  rep- 
resentatives could  not  overcome. 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


163 


in  our  home.  Christ  seemed  more  real  to  us  and  of  course 
that  well  of  water  had  to  flow.  I  could  not  keep  it  to  my- 
self— commenced  to  tell  it  to  others  and  so  our  minister 
wanted  me  to  be  quiet  and  not  talk  to  others  about  it  nor  read 
the  Leaves  of  Healing  and  not  to  go  to  Zion  meetings  any 
more,  but  I  was  starving  in  the  church  and  my  husband  got 
interested  also  and  loved  to  read  the  literature  and  hear  Mr. 
Dowie,  so  he  finally  left  the  church  and  joined  Zion.  " 

"One  does  not  have  to  believe  in  Dr.  Dowie  as  Prophet 
and  Apostle  before  he  can  be  healed.  When  the  heart  is 
right  we  receive  the  healing  through  faith  in  Jesus,  but  it  is 
a  fact  that  those  who  receive  divine  healing  soon  come  into 
the  C.  C.  C,  because  the  pastors  can  not  teach  it  and  re- 
main in  the  church,  and  the  members  can  not  testify  concern- 
ing it. 

It  is  very  plain  to  me  that  Dr.  Dowie  under  God  has  re- 
stored to  the  church  this  great  and  important  part  of  the  gos- 
pel. God  answered  his  prayers  and  thousands  have  been 
blessed  and  healed,  because  of  his  faithful  ministry. 

My  brother,  I  will  ask  you  to  read  prayerfully  the  Leaves 
of  Healing  and  the  result  will  be  a  more  abundant  life  in 
you,  a  more  effective  ministry-  for  the  Master  and  greater 
blessing  to  those  who  come  under  your  ministry." 

These  letters  certainlj-  indicate  a  high  degree  of  suggesti- 
bility in  the  writers.  To  be  able  to  believe  the  claims  of  Mr. 
Dowie,  simply  because  he  announces  himself  the  fulfiUer  of 
the  prophecy  contained  in  certain  Biblical  terms,  when  he  per- 
sonally has  not  been  the  instrument  of  their  healing,  would 
make  them  susceptible  to  like  submission  and  faith  in  any 
other  "  healer  "  and  audacious  preacher  if  he  had  crossed  the 
path  of  their  life  as  did  the  founder  of  Zion,  and  there  are,  or 
have  been,  man\-  such  characters. 

"  My  reason  for  uniting  with  the  C.  C.  C.  in  Zion  were 
many,  but  principally  to  become  identified  with  a  church  the 
highest  officials  of  which  were  determined  to  enforce  rigidly 
the  requirements  of  the  higher  Christian  life  in  the  ever}-  day 


64 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


walk  of  the  members.  I  had  been  a  Methodist  minister,  and 
a  careful  student  of  the  life  and  sermons  of  Wesley,  who  when 
he  died  left  a  church  that  was  wholly  unlike  the  Methodism  I 
saw  around  me.  If  the  Methodists  of  to-day  had  been  living 
the  life  Wesle\^  taught  them,  I  should  never  have  thought  of 
leaving  them,  neither  I  may  add  would  the  C.  C.  C.  have 
been  founded  as  Dr.  Dowie  would  have  been  a  Methodist. 
But  I  was  wholly  out  of  harmony  with  the  ways  of  life  the 
officiary  of  the  M.  E.  church  stood  for,  compromising,  half- 
hearted, luke-warm,  so  when  my  wife  having  been  given  up 
to  die  by  the  doctors  hearing  of  Dr.  Dowie  and  sending  him 
for  prayers,  was  healed,  we  were  ready  to  lay  down  our  minis- 
try and  go  to  Chicago  and  stay  twelve  months  to  make  sure 
that  the  C.  C.  C.  is  actually  Apostolic,  as  well  as  its  power, 
and  that  there  was  no  objection  to  its  doctrines  or  govern- 
ment. I  found  its  doctrines  to  be  those  I  had  become  so 
familiar  with  from  Wesley  and  loved  so  well  .  .  .  and  that 
the  gospel  truths  were  wrought  out  into  the  lives  of  the  peo- 
ple in  a  practical  way,  causing  them  to  clean  up  their  lives, 
and  be  saved  and  healed." 

"I  was  afraid  some  one  would  laugh  at  me  should  they 
know  I  belonged  to  '  Dowie  '  and  as  I  am  in  earnest,  I  knew 
it  would  not  do  to  be  ashamed  of  Christ,  or  Dr.  Dowie  rather — 
so  fifty  pamphlets  were  given  me  to  hand  around  our  office 
and  tell  all  the  other  employees  in  a  bold  and  fearless  man- 
ner of  my  intention  to  live  a  different  life.  .  .  .  But  tell  me 
where  are  these  things  taught  as  they  are  in  Zion  ?  .  .  .  When 
I  started  to  drift  away  as  a  backslider,  I  found  a  good  many 
in  the  Baptist  Church  with  me  and  I  am  glad  I  am  in  a  church 
where  you  must  live  a  godly  life  or  get  out.  ...  I  simplv 
believe  that  Zion  preaches,  teaches  and  lives  the  gospel  as 
God  wants." 

*'  I  have  belonged  to  the  close  communion  Baptist  Church. 
I  left  them  because  I  did  not  think  it  right  to  commune  the 
way  they  did  leave  out  christians  in  other  denominations. 
Then  I  joined  the  Presbyterian  and  when  I  moved  from  the 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


165 


east  to  the  west  I  took  a  letter  from  that  church  and  never 
joined  another  until  I  joined  the  Christian  Catholic.  I  was 
lead  to  that  through  reading  the  Leaves  of  Healing  and  com- 
paring them  with  the  Word  of  God,  I  saw  that  the  full  gospel 
was  being  preached  and  carried  out  in  Zion." 

In  these  letters  the  idea  of  the  spiritual  character  of  Zion 
has  been  the  form  the  suggestion  to  join  took  with  people  who 
confess  their  disaffection  for  the  "churches."  "We  have 
the  primitive  gospel,"  is  a  statement,  an  idea,  that  works 
mightily  in  the  people  out  of  conceit,  for  one  reason  or  an- 
other, with  their  churches.  In  spite  of  facts  which  a  critical 
examination  would  reveal,  the}'  are  read}-  to  break  with  the  past 
for  an  untried  institution,  taking  it  at  its  own  valuation,  not 
once  realizing  what  it  would  mean  did  everyone  take  the  same 
step.  Apart  from  an}'  question  as  to  whether  their  objections 
to  the  existing  conditions  in  the  churches  are  well  founded, 
and  granting  that  they  are,  the  move  was  the  result  of  sugges- 
tion furnished  in  every  copy  of  the  Leaves  of  Healing  and  in 
well  nigh  every  Zion  meeting  that  here  we  have  the  real  and 
full  gospel  which  the  churches  are  failing  to  see. 

"  I  went  to  Zion  to  get  healing  for  my  son  who  is  yet  un- 
healed ;  but  my  husband  believed  it  to  be  a  clean  city,  free 
from  temptation  and  a  good  place  to  educate  the  children  and 
to  invest  money." 

"  I  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church  at  the  time  the 
members  of  the  C.  C.  C.  had  cottage  meetings  at  my  house 
an  a  lady  was  there  that  had  Ben  Blind  an  Restored  to  sight 
an  I  became  very  much  interested  in  the  teaching  and  Now 
can  saj'  that  god  realy  does  heal  his  people.  I  have  Ben 
healed  of  tobacco  habit  an  of  stomach  troubles  .  .  .  Now 
concerning  Dr.  Dowie's  claims,  Being  in  the  spirit  and  Power 
of  Elijah  Yes  I  believe  that  it  is  true  as  that  name  Elijah  in 
its  true  meaning  is  (God  the  strong  lord)  .  .  .  John  the 
Baptist  also  come  in  the  spirit  an  power  of  Elijah  But  John 
diden't  know  it  himselft  But  Dr.  Dowie  don't  heal  eny  one  or 
he  don't  claim  to  But  only  teaches  the  full  gospel  salvation 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


healing  and  clean  an  hol.v  living  and  prays  for  the  people  .  .  . 
You  know  we  have  trine  Baptism  Matt.  28:19  baptising  them 
in  the  name  of  the  father  and  of  the  son  and  of  the  holy 
ghost.  Notice  that  word  (and)  as  it  means  and  injunction 
and  causes  it  all  to  be  triune  in  its  true  meaning  same  as  if 
you  had  three  cups  of  dye  Black  and  Blue  and  Red  and  you 
had  a  handkerchief  could  you  dip  it  in  all  three  of  them  cups 
at  one  dipping  (no)  it  would  hafter  be  dippted  three  times 
once  in  each  one — yet  there  is  but  one  Baptism  because  it  is 
all  in  the  triune  god  all  as  one.  ...  I  hope  you  will  be  able 
to  understand  as  I  have  done  the  best  I  could  to  explain  and 
will  do  enything  I  can  to  help  you  in  this  work  But  my  Brother 
you  will  find  when  3'ou  Begin  to  Preach  the  full  gospel  which 
means  salvation  healy  holy  and  clean  living  you  will  be 
hated  by  the  unrighteous  men  and  hypocrites  because  of  the 
truth." 

This  last  is  a  sample  of  the  childlike  imitativeness  of  many 
of  the  people  of  Zion  who  painfully  try  to  reproduce  the 
arguments  they  have  heard  or  read  for  giving  up  the  churches. 
It  is  a  primitive  trait,  putting  the  person  at  the  mercy  of  who- 
ever may  be  his  or  her  teachers  at  the  time.  Altho  from  an 
unlearned  man  it  has  the  spirit  of  absolute  sincerity,  and 
shows  the  kind  of  stuff  of  which  martyrs  are  made. 

"This  is  one  of  the  reasons  that  I  joined  the  C.  C.  C.  be- 
cause the  full  Gospel  was  preached  and  practiced ;  of  salva- 
tion healing  and  holv  living  the  same  as  our  Lord  taught  us 
when  on  earth.     Read  Matthew  28:20." 

"  1  receive  great  blessing  at  one  time  then  not  understund- 
ing  it  as  I  ought  to  do  and  not  wholh'  relying  on  God  1  went 
back  to  medicines  and  continued  sick  getting  worse  right 
along.  ...  In  the  meantime  a  lady  told  me  of  the  work  Dr. 
Dowie  was  doing  in  Chicago  and  my  already  knowing  God 
could  heal  I  began  looking  to  God  to  lead  me  and  give  me  the 
faith  and  light  I  needed.  I  wrote  Dr.  Dowie— an  hour  was 
set  for  prayer  during  which  I  felt  the  power  of  God  like  elec- 
tricity, and  the  peace  of  God  come  into  my  heart.  ...  As 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


167 


to  trying  to  find  out  by  what  means  Dr.  Dowie  accomplishes 
the  healing  of  sickness  I  do  not  see  why  one  should  be  exer- 
cised over  such  a  thing  as  that  when  God  said  through  Jesus, 
Mk.  16:17,  18,  'Those  that  believe  should  lay  hands  on  the 
sick  and  they  should  recover'.  ...  I  do  not  feel  that  it  is 
right  to  be  critical  toward  Dr.  Dowie  nor  any  one  who  preaches 
the  whole  truth  as  he  does,  for  we  are  not  criticising  him  so 
much  as  it  is  God  we  are  criticising  for  God  worketh  in  him 
to  will  and  to  do  of  his  own  good  pleasure.  I  truly  believe 
Dr.  Dowie  is  doing  God's  work  as  he  feels  God  wants  him  to 
do  and  you  or  I  or  any  one  who  yields  ourselves  wholl}^  to 
God  to  do  what  he  wants  us  to  do  .  .  .  being  perfectly  obedi- 
ent to  the  voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  to  God's  revealed  will 
in  his  word  can  be  a  power  for  God." 

One  of  the  most  intelligent  of  my  correspondents  judged 
by  the  composition  of  a  long  letter  is  a  man  who  accidentally 
received  a  bullet  in  the  right  hand  and  who  tells  how  he 
prayed  and  the  pain  ceased  and  swelling  disappeared.  "The 
swelling  gradually  went  down  until  the  third  week  when  hy 
pressing  with  the  finger  and  thumb  the  bullet  could  be  located. 
As  time  went  on  scores  of  friends  seriously  advised  the  services 
of  a  surgeon  warning  me  of  the  danger  of  gangrene  and  conse- 
quent necessity  of  amputation.  Nothing  moved  me.  I  felt 
that  I  could  not  dare  insult  my  Father  by  having  recourse  to 
the  unsanctified  methods  of  surgical  butchery,  for  I  had  the 
assurance  that  he  who  raised  Jesus  from  the  dead  and  rolled 
the  sealed  stone  from  the  tomb,  could  roll  that  bullet  from 
its  lodgment.  .  .  .  Early  the  next  spring  the  bullet  began  to 
move  upwards  toward  the  fleshy  side  of  the  hand  where  in  a 
few  weeks  the  butt  end  of  the  bullet  was  pressing  continually 
outward  until  a  small  protuberance  was  observed  which  as 
time  went  on  grew  to  be  much  larger.  On  the  top  of  the 
projection  was  noticed  a  small  scale  which  soon  pared  off  like 
paper,  followed  by  others.  In  a  few  weeks  more  one  of  these 
paper-like  pieces  came  away  leaving  an  opening  that  exposed 
the  bullet.     This  little  aperture  gradually  distended  itself 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE^ 


until  Friday  night  at  ii  p.  m.,  May  19,  1899,  the  bullet  fell 
from  my  hand  to  the  floor,  released  without  the  loss  of  a  drop 
of  blood.  ...  I  picked  it  up  and  thanked  God."  This  man 
joined  Zion  in  1902  after  having  been  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  twenty-six  years.  He  says  further,  "l  thank 
God  for  the  faithful  ministry  of  John  Alexander  Dowie,  which 
comprises  the  preaching  of  the  full  gospel  of  '  Repentance, 
Restitution,  Faith  in  God,  Obedience,  Righteousness,  Salva- 
tion for  Spirit,  Soul  and  Body — a  Triune  God,  Triune  Man, 
Triune  Baptism,  Restitution  of  all  Things,  Ruling  of  God's 
people  for  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  the  eleva- 
tion of  man.'  .  .  .  There  is  a  peace  trust  and  joy  come  into  my 
life  as  I  never  had  while  I  was  yet  with  the  denominations.  .  .  . 
I  firmly  believe  in  all  Dr.  Dowie's  claims.  I  believed  him  to 
be  a  prophet  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elijah  long  before  he 
made  his  declaration.  I  believe  him  to  be  the  Messenger  of 
the  Covenant,  '  Elijah  the  Restorer.'  .  .  .  Before  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  the  'Messenger'  must  first  come.  .  .  .  To  an- 
nounce that  coming  and  to  gather  as  an  unmistakable  object 
lesson  those  who  shall  be  'counted  worthy  to  escape  the  things 
coming  upon  the  earth,'  the  Lord  sends  one  man,  who  in  the 
Spirit's  power  smites  evil  wherever  he  finds  it,  however  en- 
trenched by  long  usage,  whenever  it  may  have  gained  an 
entrance — one  wKo  makes  every  path  '  straight '  that  he  finds 
'crooked.'  Mai.  3  and  4  delineates  his  work.  We  are  per- 
fectly willing  to  examine  in  the  light  of  Scripture  the  claims 
of  any  other  'Elijah,'  and  when  the  preponderance  of  evidence 
is  in  his  favor,  to  accept  him  as  the  genuine  '  Restorer.'  " 

Here  is  a  man  under  the  obsession  of  the  powerful  fear  that 
he  will  offend  and  insult  his  Father  by  resorting  to  surgical 
aid,  but  who  nevertheless  is  willing  to  accept  as  the  genuine 
Restorer  him  who  can  furnish  the  strongest  suggestion,  (to 
talk  of  evidence  is  out  of  the  question)  that  he  is  the  sup- 
posed and  expected  Restorer.  This  is  just  the  sort  of  man, 
tho  of  more  than  one  talent,  who  could  be  predicted  to  fall 
under  the  sway  of  an  aggressive  and  positive  religious  charac- 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


ter  such  as  Mr.  Dowie,  because  of  the  state  of  preparedness  of 
his  mind,  the  result  of  an  unhistorical  attitude  toward  the 
Bible,  and  such  as  he  furnishes  material  for  a  fairly  competent 
set  of  officers  for  the  organization  that  naturally  grows  up 
around  his  Restorer. 

These  excerpts  from  letters  of  Zion  people  indicate  the  sin- 
cerity of  the  writers  which  is  a  characteristic  of  the  rank  and 
file  of  Mr.  Dowie's  people,  hardly  to  be  questioned  by  any- 
one. Every  letter  I  have  received,  and  everv  personal  con- 
versation with  these  people,  leads  me  to  feel  that  whatever 
else  may  be  characteristic  of  them  the^-  are  honest  in  their 
convictions,  and  for  the  time  believe  implicitly  in  him  and  in 
Zion.  Indeed  many  of  them  are  of  the  stuff  that  martyrs 
come  from  and  have  literally  forsaken  all  and  followed  the 
lead  of  Mr.  Dowie  into  Zion.  In  many  cases  they  have  dis- 
posed of  property  at  a  sacrifice,  have  made  splendid  gifts  to 
various  phases  of  the  work,  and  willingly  tithe,  giving  a  tenth 
of  all  their  increase  to  the  Lord,  but  send  it  to  him  through 
Mr.  Dowie. 

The  manager  of  the  Lace  Industry  in  Zion,T  still  (April  25, 
1905, )  drawing  salary  on  account  of  a  contract  with  Mr.  Dowie, 
altho  dismissed  from  his  place  as  manager,  writes  me  : 

"About  the  people — the  class.  Mostly  the  common  peo- 
ple, (he  is  an  Englishman)  not  particularly  bright  as  a  rule. 
Mostly  very  sincere  and  not  at  all  grounded  in  Scripture. 
There  are  exceptions  of  course,  but  few.  Most  of  them  come 
from  other  churches.  I  did,  captured  by  the  idealistic  con- 
dition portrayed  by  Dowie  in  Leaves  of  Healing.  .  .  .  De- 
nominations all  kinds,  Lutheran,  Catholic,  Baptists,  Metho- 
dists, and  some  good  people  too  earnest,  sincere  and  eager 
to  lift  the  world,  a  people  who  are  willing  to  be  led  and  who 
will  work.  .  .  .  His  elders  and  assistants — one  or  two  capa- 

*  A  later  letter  from  this  man  reiterates  his  absolute  confidence  in  Mr. 
Dowie  as  prophet  and  apostle  even  after  the  revolt  in  Zion  City.  He  was 
not  living  in  that  city  and  was  not  as  near  to  Mr.  Dowie  as  tiie  revoiters. 

tSee  Note,  p.  3,  Introduction. 


I70 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


bles  and  the  rest  nowhere,  usually  failures  from  other  denomi- 
nations— one  man  is  here  .  .  .  who  was  once  in  Methodist 
Episcopal  conference  South,  but  if  he  is  a  sample  I  don't 
wonder  they  were  glad  to  get  rid  of  him  altho  I  am  a  Metho- 
dist. A  good  few  are  here  who  couldn't  succeed  any  where 
else.  He  has  six  good  men — ministers.  Voliva  in  Australia, 
Mason  and  Piper,  New  England  States ;  Hammond  and  Cos- 
sum,  Chicago  ;  Braisefield  and  Excell  .  .  .  Bryant  in  Africa; 
he's  a  good  fellow.  I  should  say  none  of  these  men  under- 
stand the  business  methods  of  Zion,  they  preach  and  trust 
the  Doctor's  policy.  Dowie  would  discharge  any  of  them 
tomorrow  if  he  dreampt  they  were  not  loyal  or  didn't  accept 
him  for  Elijah,  or  back  him  up  in  all  he  did.  .  .  .  Many  of 
his  people  get  disgusted  and  leave.  Some  would  like  to  but 
can't  because  all  they  have  is  tied  up  in  land  or  home,  and 
they  have  to  wait  favorable  opportunity.  .  .  .  The  best  cure 
for  people  is  to  let  them  come  here  and  find  out  for  them- 
selves— a  great  many  won't  believe  what  you  tell  them." 

Another  very  enlightening  line  of  evidence  is  that  of  the 
testimony  of  pastors  who  have  had  members  leave  to  join 
Zion,  or  who  have  come  in  contact  with  Zion  people  in  their 
church  work. 

"Concerning  Faith  Healers  (Dowieites),  will  say  that  eight 
years'  experience  in  New  York  city  with  opportunity  to  ob- 
serve the  work  of  A.  B.  Simpson  and  extreme  radical  literal- 
ists  in  Scripture  interpretation,  also  meeting  here  in  the  west 
all  sorts  of  extremists,  leads  me  to  have  charity  with  a  large 
element  of  pity  for  those  who  are  taken  in  their  confidence 
and  involved  toils.  We  can  not  doubt  their  sincerity,  but 
need  not  accept  their  mode  of  interpretation.  Frenzied  her- 
meneutics  would  be  a  fair  classification  of  their  irrational  ap- 
plication of  scripture  truth  to  human  life.  Good  people  too 
only  sometimes  so  good  they  have  not  time  to  be  good  for 
anything.  You  will  not  select  your  most  valuable  christian 
workers  from  among  them.  ...  I  know  of  churches  that  have 
passed  through  a  long  siege  of  revolt,  discussion  and  dissen- 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


171 


sion.  .  .  .  that  can  say  with  David,  'It  is  good  for  me  that 
I  have  been  afflicted,  for  before  I  was  afflicted  I  went  astray.' 
I  am  sure  that  a  good  Baptist  church  will  stand  until  the  day 
of  judgment.  It  is  the  day  of  no  judgment  that  I  fear  the 
most." 

The  Secretary  of  the  Ohio  Baptist  State  Convention  writes : 
"We  have  had  one  minister  go  from  us  to  that  faith  (Dowie- 
ism),  and  he  has  come  back  again.  He  was  not  a  man  of 
very  much  balance.  He  had  a  very  limited  education,  and  is 
not  very  well  grounded  in  any  faith.  It  would  not  surprise  me 
to  hear  that  he  had  gone  to  any  kind  of  belief  that  happened  to 
come  to  his  attention.  I  have  never  seen  or  known  of  any  of 
Dowie's  followers  who  was  noted  for  any  great  mental  powers. 
It  is  my  opinion  that  the\-  are  a  class  of  people  who  have  let 
one  phase  of  their  religious  nature  become  abnormally  devel- 
oped and,  so  to  speak,  diseased." 

The  same  officer  for  Nebraska  writes  : 

"  We  have  not  had  very  much  of  Dowieism  among  the  Bap- 
tist churches  of  Nebraska.  I  don't  believe  that  more  than  a 
hundred  of  our  people  throughout  the  state  have  embraced  to 
any  considerable  extent  the  teachings  of  Mr.  Dowie.  There 
are  a  few  who  are  always  gadding  about  for  some  new  thing  and 
if  the  Devil  himself  were  to  come  here  and  canvass  for  a  fol- 
lowing these  self-same  people  would  be  ready  to  listen  to 
him.  .  .  .  Regarding  the  few  followers  of  Mr.  Dowie  in  this 
state  I  have  met,  I  would  say  that  they  strike  me  as  mentally 
unsound.  Most  of  them  seem  to  be  sincere,  but  they  are 
blinded  by  their  own  pretentions." 

The  testimony  from  other  states  is  substantially  the  same, 
and  so  far  as  it  bears  upon  the  class  of  people  from  which  Mr. 
Dowie  has  largely  drawn,  is  fully  corroborated  by  my  own 
experience.  Literalists,  craving  authority  such  as  Mr.  Dowie 
has  provided  for,  to  keep  them  from  being  turbulent,  but 
absolutely  incapable  of  passing  judgment  upon  that  authority', 
save  as  it  comes  in  conflict  with  their  passions  and  selfish  in- 
terests, when  they  feel  free  to  cast  it  off.    This  would  be  the 


172 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


mental  histor\^  in  brief  of  a  great  many  of  the  most  ardent 
Zionites,  and  they  furnish  good  material  for  the  making  of  a 
religious  psychological  crowd,  when  the  right  man  of  powerful 
personality  draws  them  to  himself,  by  preaching  their  crotch- 
ets or  giving  them  a  religious  novelty  of  sufficient  interest  to 
enlist  them  for  the  time. 

The  constant  cry  of  these  people  is  that  we  ought  to  believe 
the  simple  statements  of  Scripture — not  to  reason  about  them 
at  all ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  Mr.  Dowie  has  constantly  fed  his 
people  a  show  of  wisdom  in  reference  to  Greek  and  Hebrew 
words,  and  there  is  not  one  of  his  followers  but  believes  him, 
in  Theology  and  Bible  knowledge,  the  superior  of  any  theo- 
logical professor  or  Doctor  of  Divinity  that  you  might  name 
to  them.  Then,  too,  they  like  to  tell  3'ou  of  the  number  of 
college  graduates  and  the  like  among  their  officers.  Even  a 
mob  wants  to  pride  itself  upon  knowing  a  few  things  and  glo- 
rifies its  leader  or  leaders  to  the  extreme,  since  that  reflects 
credit  upon  themselves. 

"I  had  four  members  who  went  off  to  follow  Mr.  Dowie; 
several  that  leaned  that  way.  Their  sincerity  I  could  not 
question.  It  seemed  to  me  a  sort  of  infatuation.  They  were 
not  persons  of  mental  acuteness.  They  were  almost  wholly 
of  the  class  who  regarded  learning  rather  as  a  hindrance  than 
a  help  to  godliness." 

"I  have  had  some  association  with  those  who  have  gone 
into  Dowieism.  1  have  in  mind  four  instances.  One  of  a 
young  woman,  honest  but  uneducated,  who  at  the  importunity 
of  friends,  on  whom  she  was  somewhat  dependent,  accom- 
panied them  to  Zion  City.  Shortly  afterwards  she  wrote  me  for 
a  letter  of  dismission  that  she  might  unite  with  Dowie's  church. 
The  wording  and  general  manner  of  the  letter  convinced  me 
that  she  was  writing  at  the  dictation  of  another  person.  So  I  al- 
lowed the  matter  to  rest  for  awhile.  Two  weeks  later  I  received 
another  letter  withdrawing  her  request.  Another  instance 
was  the  young  woman's  sister.  She  was  a  woman  of  limited 
intelligence,  highly  emotional  nature,  and  questionable  char- 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


173 


acter.  She  had  got  out  of  harmon}-  with  the  church  of  which 
she  was  considered  a  member,  and  took  up  Dowieism  in  a 
spirit  of  self-justification  or  of  revenge  or  both.  I  am  ac- 
quainted with  two  Baptist  ministers  who  have  become  Dowie- 
ites.  The  course  of  one  man  was  as  follows  :  Presbyterian, 
Baptist,  Christian  Alliance,  Divine  Healing,  Dowieism,  and 
is  now  a  Baptist  again.  The  fourth  instance  is  a  Baptist 
minister  who  held  a  pastorate  at  P.  .  He  was  of  mid- 
dle age  and  was  looked  upon  as  a  man  of  more  than  usual 
strength.  .  .  .  To  his  brethren  it  looked  as  tho  a  feeling  of 
soreness  at  not  finding  a  congenial  pastorate  had  something 
to  do  with  his  change  of  affiliations  tho  it  may  not  have  had." 

"  I  have  known  a  number  who  either  are  or  have  been  his 
(Dowie's)  followers.  With  two  exceptions  I  have  no  reason 
to  doubt  their  sincerity.  None  of  them  have  been  above  the 
average  in  culture  or  intellect.  Not  one  of  them  has  been  in 
the  true  sense  of  the  words  learned  in  the  Scriptures.  Nearly 
all  of  them  have  been  before  their  contact  with  his  teachings 
of  the  histerico-pious  type  of  religionists.  Some  of  them  were 
tinctured  with  a  pharisaic  spirit." 

"  Have  met  some  of  them  (Dowieites).  Believe  them  to 
be  sincere,  can  not  but  respect  them  for  their  sincerity.  Be- 
lieve them  people  who  are  usually  easily  led  and  carried  away 
by  religious  fanaticism  of  any  kind.  Think  them  mentally 
as  acute  as  the  ordinary  run  of  people." 

"  I  understand  that  six  or  eight  of  the  most  spiritual  and 
conscientious  members  left  and  went  over  to  Dowie  a  year  or 
so  before  we  came  here.  ...  I  could  not  question  the  sin- 
cerity of  the  followers  of  Dowie  whom  I  have  known,  and  while 
they  seemed  mentally  sound  on  every  other  subject,  relig- 
iously they  seemed  to  be  blind  to  everything  that  did  not 
favor  Dowieism." 

"  My  own  experience  with  people  who  hold  such  views 
tenaciously  would  be  that  as  a  rule  they  are  one-sided,  and 
can  thus  be  of  little  use  except  in  this  one  matter.  .  .  ,  Their 
allegiance  to  the  matter  will  be  short-lived  and  they  will  in 


174 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


turn  then  become  indifferent  to  the  many  other  great  and  per- 
haps greater  things  of  life." 

"  One  was  a  Dowieite  by  force  of  circumstances  and  igno- 
rance of  the  churches.  She  has  had  unusual  spiritual  experi- 
ences, like  visions,  etc.,  but  we  think  she  isn't  quite  right. 
Acts  ver\-  queerh'  sometimes.  .  .  .  Have  known  an  old  couple 
who  were  Dowieites.  Splendid  people,  honest,  sincere — not 
intellectually  acute  ;  also  their  daughter  and  grandaughter 
who  were  educated  and  intelligent.  .  .  .  Also  a  Doctor  of 
Divinity  and  wife,  who  were  ardent  believers  :  but  a  visit  to 
Dowie  for  healing  for  the  wife  cured  them  of  it.  It  is  notable 
that  Dowie's  followers  all  seem  to  be  attracted  by  the  heal- 
ing, not  by  any  spiritual  truth  —  a  selfish  consideration 
mainly." 

"  I  have  met  many  followers  of  Dowie  and  believe  as  a  rule 
they  are  sincere  in  their  beliefs,  but  I  have  met  very  few  who 
seem  to  possess  a  strong  character  and  very  few  who  think, 
only  as  Dowie  says  they  must.  Whether  this  is  the  result 
of  lack  of  mental  acuteness  or  not  I  am  not  prepared  to 
say.  A  majority,  however,  impress  me  with  the  fact  that 
they  are  overzealous  in  trying  to  be  true  to  Christ  and  know 
ver3'  little  of  the  word  of  God,  hence  were  led  astray  by  appar- 
ent use  of  the  word." 

*'  The  Dowieites  I  have  known  are  naturally  eccentric  and 
opinionated.  I  can  not  say  they  are  very  greatly  lacking  in 
intelligence.  Those  I  happen  to  know  personally  keep  the 
Sabbath  to  the  letter  and  in  other  respects  live  by  rule.  I 
know  of  no  blemish  on  their  character." 

"  The  followers  of  Dowie  that  I  have  met  seem  to  me  to  be 
sincere.  They  certainly  had  mental  acuteness  equal  to  the 
average.  .  .  .  They  are  exceedingly  dogmatic,  but  they  seem 
to  be  at  peace.  They  are  ardent  workers  for  the  principles 
they  have  adopted." 

Their  sincerity  in  my  mind  is  unquestionable  except  in 
occasional  instances.  Yet  as  to  their  mental  acumen,  I  have 
felt  that  thev  were  rather  deficient.    They  are  people  gene- 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


175 


rally  controlled  by  one  idea,  or  have  become  subservient  to 
one  person." 

"  Have  met  a  few  who  have  been  followers  of  Dowie  and 
have  been  impressed  with  their  sincerity,  but  the}'  were  glad 
to  free  themselves  from  these  influences  when  once  their 
eyes  were  opened." 

"  Most  of  them  honest  people;  but  terribly  cranky,  if  you 
step  on  their  toes.  They  have  a  hobby  and  ride  it  to  death. 
Orthodox  but  uncharitable." 

"  I  have  known  some  of  them  at  least,  well.  They  are 
mostly  or  entirely  made  up  of  the  poorer  people  and  those  of 
slight  education  and  vacillating  character.  For  the  most  part 
they  are  people  who  are  of  fair  moral  character  tho  some  con- 
spicuous lapses  have  occurred.  Many  have  given  up  property 
and  associations  to  follow  Dowie.  ...  I  think  most  of  these 
people  are  sincere  at  least  at  first.  Some  have  *  apostated.' 
They  are  not  mentally  well  balanced  in  my  judgment  as  evi- 
denced by  things  I  have  known  of  many  of  them  outside  of 
this  particular  vagary." 

"  The  number  of  Dowieites  that  I  have  met  have  sureh' 
been  sincere  but  with  a  sincerity'  due  to  an  apparent  igno- 
rance." 

Testimony  of  this  sort  might  be  multiplied  indefinite^', 
but  from  what  we  have  before  us  and  from  what  our  preced- 
ing chapters  show,  we  are  able  to  come  to  some  fairly  definite 
conclusions. 

(i)  Mr.  Dowie's  people  all  believe  in  divine  healing  in 
direct  answer  to  prayer  apart  from  any  means,  usually  em- 
ployed for  the  alleviation  of  pain  and  cure  of  disease.  They 
are  in  most  cases  consistent  in  adhering  to  this  principle  and 
practice.  The  large  majority  have  been  led  to  follow  him 
through  this  belief,  having  been  healed,  really  or  supposedly, 
themselves,  or  having  been  influenced  by  friends  who  were 
healed. 

Under  this  head  would  of  course  come  that  large  number  of 
persons  who  for  purely  selfish  ends,  for  example,  the  healing 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


and  help  for  the  body  they  hoped  to  receive,  have  left  a  church 
less  promising  and  have  sought  Mr.  Dowie  and  Zion.  An 
elder  in  Zion  writes  me,  "  I  will  say  in  brief  that  a  compari- 
son with  the  followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  would  show 
you,  as  it  would  all  wise  men,  at  a  glance,  that  the  conditions 
will  be  the  same  here  in  their  degree  as  they  were  with  Jesus 
in  his  day  and  with  his  earthly  followers.  Loaves  and  fishes  ? 
Yes  !  Flight  and  confusion  when  he  was  gone  ?  Yes.  These 
are  simple  principles  of  human  life.  Mixed  motives,  selfish 
motives  and  all  sorts,  but  the  grandest  following  an}-  man 
ever  had  followed  the  Christ.  And  the  principle  is  the  same 
here.  The  grandest  set  of  Christians  ever  gathered  on  God's 
earth  are  here  and  I  have  tested  them  every  way."  * 

(2)  These  people  have  come  to  regard  Mr.  Dowie  as  an  ex- 
traordinary person,  as  an  agent  of  God's  healing  of  the  body  ; 
and  whatever  may  be  the  terminolog}'  the  use  about  God 
doing  the  healing,  Mr.  Dowie  simply  presenting  God's  teach- 
ing, they  instinctively  feel  him  to  be  possessed  of  extraordi- 
nary power  in  prayer  and  to  be  the  efficient  visible  cause  of 
multitudes  of  recoveries.  "God  used  him"  the\'  say.  Thej' 
have  come  from  the  other  denominations  largely  perhaps  as 
many  as  three-fourths  of  them,  t 

*  This  was  written  while  he  was  in  full  loyalty  to  Mr.  Dowie. 

t  Personal  letter  to  me  from  one  of  the  more  intelligent,  but  neverthe- 
less "docile"  followers  of  Mr.  Dowie  : 

"I  believe  YOU  err  in  the  words,  'the  interpretation  Zion  commands.' 
1  have  no  consciousness  of  any  command  either  in  language  or  by  infer- 
ence, to  accept  any  given  interpretation.  Indeed  great  liberty  is  allowed. 
Overseer  Excell,  for  instance,  is  a  Sabbath  keeper.  He  will  not  work  on 
Saturday.  He  also  considers  it  wrong  to  eat  any  meat.  Not  twenty  thou- 
sand of  our  people  have  been  bapti/ed  by  the  baptism  Dr.  Dowie  declares  is 
the  sole  one.  Yet  without  any  command  almost  everyone  in  Zion  thinks 
it  the  part  of  wisdom  to  take  the  Doctor's  interpretation  without  question 
or  hesitation. 

You  inquire  about  the  people  of  Zion  as  1  know  them.  Zion  is  made 
up  of  the  fairly  educated,  moderately  circumstanced,  middle  class.  There 
are  of  course  many  who  were  formerly  trash,  and  many  who  come  from 
the  learned  and  professional  classes.    But  the  numbers  of  each  of  these 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


177 


(3)  The}'  are  for  the  most  part  absolutely  sincere  and  to 
the  extent  of  their  ability'  loyal  to  their  leader  who  stands  in 
the  place  of  God  and  God's  will  to  them.  They  have  in  full 
faith  accepted  his  claims  and  willingly  address  him  as  the 
"  First  Apostle."  * 

(4)  There  has  been  considerable  lapsing  because  of  unsta- 
bleness  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  people,  and  some  deser- 
tions because  of  unwillingness  to  fully  admit  all  Zion's  re- 
quirement and  teachings  ;  some  exclusions  because  of  insub- 
ordination, or  breach  of  the  rigid  Zion  discipline.  These  have 
not  materially  affected  the  faith  and  devotion  of  those  who 
remain.  Many  of  the  seceders  were  the  most  ardent  support- 
ers and  advocates  of  the  movement  and  its  teaching  while  in 
fellowship  with  Zion. 

(5)  These  people  come  almost  entirely  from  what  might  be 
called  the  lower  bourgeois  or  middle  class,  either  poor  or  pos- 

extremes  are  not  so  large  a  percentage  of  the  whole  membership  nearly, 
as  the  total  number  in  these  classes  in  the  world  is  to  the  whole  popula- 
tion. It  is  still  true  that  the  common  people  hear  him  gladly.  The  peo- 
ple were  formerly  of  every  possible  religious  type.  I  believe,  howcN-tr, 
Methodism  and  Roman  Catholicism  have  the  first  rank  in  having  fur- 
nished members  for  Zion. 

I  do  not  believe  that  Dr.  Dowie's  ministry  will  result  in  a  general  quick- 
ening of  the  Denominations,  i  look  for  the  reverse.  Indeed  I  look  upon 
Zion  as  one  of  the  causes  of  the  evident  retrogression  in  the  spiritual 
power  of  the  Denominations.  That  last  sentence  does  not  suit  me,  now 
that  it  is  down.    I  substitute  'occasions'  for  'causes.' 

I  am  always  ready  to  reply  carefully  to  such  intelligent  questions  as 
you  put.  1  thank  you  for  your  good  opinion  of  me,  saying  I  am  able  to 
express  myself  intelligently.  It  is  unquestionably  and  unfortunately  a 
somewhat  rare  capability. 

Praying  earnestly  God's  blessing  upon  you,  and  inquiring  of  you  as  a 
minister  once  inquired  of  me,  'Why  not  forsake  the  old  rotting  hulk 
wherein  you  have  sailed  so  long,  and  get  into  the  crew  of  that  beautiful 
war  ship,  the  C.  C.  A.  C.  in  Zion.'  " 

*The  events  which  led  to  widespread  desertion  occurred  after  this  was 
written.  It  was  a  true  statement  of  the  situation  at  the  time,  and  the  de- 
sertions illustrate  a  trait  they  exhibit,  discussed  later. 


178 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


sessed  of  limited  means;  on  or  below  the  average  of  intelligence; 
below  the  average  in  general  culture;  of  little  or  no  critical  fac- 
ulty in  the  scientific  use  of  the  term.  I  say  this  for  reasons 
that  are  general :  The  tone  of  their  letters  to  me,  the  compo- 
sition and  contents,  inability  to  analyze  their  own  experi- 
ences, their  perfect  naivete  in  many  instances.  In  conversa- 
tion and  by  observation  in  Zion  City  and  Zion  homes  I  find 
this  to  be  true.  The  letters  quoted  from  pastors  as  testimony 
either  are  neutral  on  this  matter  or  bear  out  this  view. 

In  corroboration  also  comes  the  testimonj'  of  some  who  have 
lived  in  Zion.  A  ladv  who  spent  two  years  there  told  me  that 
few  indeed  of  those  coming  to  the  city  could  do  more  than 
buy  a  home,  and  the  majority  could  not  do  that.  Those 
coming  from  a  distance,  Australia  or  Europe,  or  the  far 
west  of  the  United  States,  as  a  large  company'  of  them  did 
about  the  time  she  was  leaving,  had  spent  all  they  possessed 
in  making  the  journey  and  were  relying  upon  the  work  they 
were  to  secure  in  Zion  immediately  for  a  livelihood. 

(6)  They  are  literalists  in  Bible  interpretation  and  incapa- 
ble, tho  they  had  the  inclination,  of  making  a  balanced,  his- 
torical exegesis  of  a  Scripture  passage  ;  but  open  to  ready 
conviction  through  a  crude  proof  text  argument,  to  almost 
any  belief,  but  especially  to  the  ones  lying  nearest  to  their 
personal  interest,  that  is  to  divine  healing  and  the  like.  This 
even  holds  good  of  the  ofificers  of  Zion  who  are  alien  and 
hostile  to  all  of  the  modern  historical  and  scientific  spirit. 

(7)  They  are  very  religious — indeed  making  religion  a  bur- 
den through  its  exactions — but  of  righteous  purpose  and  en- 
deavor. They  would  make  religioa  the  chief  business  of  life, 
almost  the  exclusive  business,  and  only  seem  happy  when  in 
a  meeting  wliere  practically  the  same  things  are  said  over  and 
over,  if  coached  in  religious  phraseology.  Their  very  diver- 
sions in  Zion  City  have  a  religious  flavor,  and  the  love  of  the 
spectacular  which  is  present  in  nearly  all  simple  folk  is  grati- 
fied bv  a  rather  gorgeous  ritual,  ])rocessions,  gowns,  and 
robes.    The  names  of  the  streets  and  avenues,  the  Elijah 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


179 


Hospice,  Shiloh  House  and  a  multitude  of  other  things  con- 
spire to  give  all  of  life  a  religious  surrounding  and  atmos- 
phere, and  this  seems  to  be  just  the  thing  for  people  who 
regard  all  the  rest  of  the  world  under  the  dominion  of  the 
Devil.  The  better  portion  of  them  have  readily  accepted  the 
teaching  on  holy  living,  involving  repentance,  restitution, 
forsaking  of  evil  habits  and  an  ordering  of  the  life  according 
to  the  Bible,  or  rather  Zion's  moral  code  purporting  to  be 
drawn  from  the  Bible. 

(8)  They  are  of  a  class  easily  led,  in  fact  crave  a  guidance 
that  is  real  and  tangible.  They  want  to  feel  that  God  is  real 
to  them,  but  find  his  will  expressed  in  their  leaders  and  supe- 
riors in  the  church  to  whom  they  are  taught  to  give  implicit 
obedience,  which  is  done  except  in  isolated  cases  of  disaffec- 
tion and  insubordination  which  are  summarily  dealt  with. 

A  prominent  editor  says  :  ' '  They  are  as  inferior  physically 
as  mentally.  Hardly  without  exception  they  are  weak-framed, 
dull-witted  creatures  of  the  sort  who  crave  a  master  as  a  dog 
does  ...  a  band  of  human  misfits  that  would  follow  any 
leader  who  cared  to  shout  orders  to  them." 

This  is  largely  a  true  estimate,  for  they  are  morbidly  given 
to  thinking  of  their  ailments,  even  when  planning  and  pray- 
ing to  be  rid  of  them.  They  are  not  the  sort  to  do  independ- 
ent thinking,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  no  book  or  even  tract  or 
anything  of  note  has  been  published  by  any  of  Mr.  Dowie's 
followers  in  the  fifteen  years  of  his  more  public  work.  These 
people  are  not  the  kind  to  take  the  initiative,  nor  would  Mr. 
Dowie  tolerate  any  rival  theory  or  belief,  altho  one  of  the 
propositions  upon  which  the  organization  was  formed  was 
"liberty  in  non-essentials." 

Such  an  organization  and  discipline  as  Mr.  Dowie  has  built 
up  and  maintained  would  not,  and  has  not  attracted  men  of 
independent  judgment  or  native  ability.  They  must  be  slav- 
ishly loyal  to  their  leader  as  a  condition  of  remaining  in 
Zion. 

*  This  might  seem  to  need  qualification  as  Mr.  Voliva  appears  to  be  an 


i8o 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


The  attacks  upon  Mr.  Dowie  by  his  officers  after  the  revolt 
was  an  accomplished  fact  reveals  what  sort  of  men  they  are. 
Sunday,  April  22,  1006,  in  Central  Zion  Tabernacle,  Chicago, 
an  Overseer  charged  Mr.  Dowie  with  embezzling  charity 
funds,  citing  the  case  of  the  money  raised  in  1902  for  the 
Martinique  disaster  sufferers  which  never  reached  them.  That 
he  remained  silent  until  Overseer  Voliva  had  made  the  revolt 
assured,  incriminates  him  and  shows  incidentally  that  Zion 
officers  have  been  under  the  absolute  sway  of  Mr.  Dowie. 

(9)  Partly  because  the  foregoing  statements  are  true  with 
respect  to  Mr.  Dowie's  followers,  and  for  further  reasons 
which  we  will  try  to  show,  they  are  seen  to  be  people  who  not 
only  aim,  however  sincerely,  to  reproduce  primitive  Christi- 
anity, but  are  people  who  reveal  primitive  traits  of  character.* 
Mr.  Dowie  himself  is  a  sample.  Testimonies  are  abundant  to 
show  that  he  possesses  a  kindliness  of  disposition  at  various 
times,  and  not  infrequent  are  his  humorous  sallies,  and  at- 
tempts at  being  "funny;"  but  the  primitive  traits  of  anger  and 
intense  excitement  are  ever  ready  to  show  themselves.  His 
violent  outbursts  without  any  apparently  sufficient  provoca- 
tion are  numerous,  and  have  been  witnessed  by  nearly  every- 
one who  has  attended  one  of  his  services. 

We  can  not  feel  that  all  this  is  simulated  either,  or  done 
simply  for  effect,  for  once  we  saw  him  when  some  children 
were  playing  outside  the  tabernacle  in  Zion  City  during  serv- 
ice, give  angry  orders  that  they  be  stopped  immediatel}'.  A 
few  moments  later  as  nothing  had. been  done,  he  stormed  at 
the  Zion  guards  sitting  near  the  front,  angrily  reprimanding 

exception.  If  he  is  an  exception,  he  is  apparently  a  deceiver,  as  his 
protestations  of  loyalty  at  the  time  Mr.  Dowie  was  tai<en  sick  were  loudest 
of  all.  Before  coming  to  America  from  Australia  the  same  devotion  and 
loyalty  were  subserviently  reiterated. 

*  A  primitive  person  is  one  who  is  physically  active,  highly  emotional 
and  with  feeble  reasoning  powers — a  child  of  conjecture  and  imagination 
—a  type  which  ranges  from  ideo-motor  to  ideo-emotional— Cf.  Davenport, 
Primitive  Traits  in  Religious  Revivals,  p.  13. 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


i8i 


them  publicly-,  for  not  obej-ing  and  looking  after  those  cnil- 
dren.  They,  like  a  well  disciplined  squad  of  soldiery,  double- 
quicked  to  the  valiant  service  of  silencing  three  or  four  young- 
sters. Mr.  Dowie  fairly  snorfbd  around  for  a  few  moments, 
and  then  resumed  his  harangue  upon  Secretism.  At  another 
time  in  a  public  meeting  he  scolded  almost  beyond  endurance, 
a  frail  woman,  with  a  babe  that  occasionally  gave  a  cry.  In 
a  prayer  we  heard  him  make,  in  dealing  with  the  denomina- 
tions, he  fairly  lost  his  temper  in  telling  the  Lord  the  fright- 
ful wickedness  of  the  miserable  Episcopalians.  By  a  process 
of  auto-suggestion  he  worked  himself  into  a  passion  in  this 
prayer  until  words  failed  him  to  express  the  intense  feeling 
that  was  upon  him.  Mr.  Dowie  reminds  one  forcibly  of  the 
most  uncanny  character  of  that  large  group  of  extremists  of 
the  Great  Awakening  in  New  England,  "Rev.  Mr.  Daven- 
port,"* who  lacked  the  brains  and  balance  of  Edwards  and 
whose  furious  bursts  of  abuse  and  derision  when  opposed  if 
ever  so  mildly,  make  him  a  character  very  difficult  of  analy- 
sis. The  passional  and  emotional  often  had  the  upper  hand 
in  his  soul,  and  they  certainly  do  in  his  modern  counterpart, 
the  Founder  of  Zion,  and  villifier  of  all  who  oppose  him. 

But  our  present  discussion  has  to  do  not  so  much  with  Mr. 
Dowie,  as  with  his  followers.  The  very  fact  that  they 
renounce  all  drugs  and  doctors  would  for  many  be  evidence 
for  classing  them  as  a  primitive  people.  But  this  point  is 
open  for  discussion,  as  many  persons  clearly  abreast  of  the 
present  age  in  attainments  and  culture,  renounce  the  use  of 
drugs  and  seldom  deem  it  wise  to  summon  a  physican. 
However,  as  Dr.  Buckley  says:  "it  is  the  fact  that  faith- 
healers  of  this  type  claim  that  to  obtain  healing  from  God 
they  must  refuse  the  use  of  the  natural  means  which  he  has 
provided,  which  shows  them  to  be  superstitious,  and  imprints 
upon  their  foreheads  the  name  fanatic."  t 

*Cf.  Davenport,  Primitive  Traits  in  Religious  Revivals,  p.  118ff. 
t  Pamphlet,  Dowie  Analyzed  and  Classified. 


l82 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


There  is  or  seems  to  be  on  the  part  of  all  believers  in  this 
theory  of  healing,  a  dense  ignorance  of  human  nature  and  its 
inherent  powers  of  self-recuperation,  which  bring  multitudes 
back  from  the  very  brink  of  death.  This  indicates  that  they 
are  wholly  or  in  part  given  to  attributing  unusual  cures  of 
apparentlv  hopeless  cases  to  a  miraculous  intervention  of 
God,  and  this  was  the  way  primitive  superstitious  people  ac- 
counted for  anything  unusual.  "What  seems  to  them  mys- 
terious and  even  miraculous-  is  regarded  by  those  who  haye 
made  a  scientific  study  of  human  nature  as  liable  to  occur  at 
any  time." 

Their  belief  in  demon-possession  is  another  evidence  of 
their  being  primitive.  Without  discussing  the  facts  of  which 
this  is  only  one  interpretation,  *  we  might  remark  that  what 
is  known  as  demon-possession,  or  the  facts  which  are  thus 
interpreted  are  found  almost  exclusively  among  primitive  peo- 
ples. Phenomena  of  this  sort  do  appear  in  the  midst  of  civil- 
ized nations  and  communities,  but  there  are  special  reasons 
for  this  in  a  particular  local  atmosphere,  or  environing  causes. 

Dr.  Nevius  in  "Demon  Possession  and  Allied  Themes" 
takes  the  very  same  view  as  does  Mr.  Dowie  and  his  follow- 
ers, that  is,  "  that  as  yet  no  theory  has  been  advanced  which 
so  well  accords  with  the  facts  as  the  simple  and  unquestioning 
conclusion  so  universally  held  by  the  Christians  of  Shantung, 
viz:  that  evil  spirits  do  in  many  instances  possess  or  control 
the  mind  and  will  of  human  beings."  This  belief  of  course 
is  the  one  which  follows  a  literal  interpretation  of  the  New 
Testament  without  historical  considerations  of  current  belief 
and  temporary  thought-form.  We  maintain  therefore  that 
to  account  for  such  phenomena  by  referring  them  to  demon 
possession,  is  a  mark  of  that  primitive  mind,  or  a  primitive 
survival  which  finds  it  easj'  to  believe  in  witches,  voodoes, 
ghosts  and  the  like.  Mr.  Dowie's  people  do  so  account  for 
all  obsessions  and  even  class  other  phenomena  in  the  same 
category,  vaguely  believing  that  a  something  called  a  devil 

*  See  Discussion,  Doctrines  of  Zion. 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


183 


possesses  the  man  or  woman  given  over  to  a  Godless  life  or 
unclean  habits.  * 

The  vast  majorit}'  of  Christians  it  is  true  do  belive  in  actual 
demon-possession  in  Bible  times,  because  of  a  literal  interpre- 
tation of  the  Bible,  or  rather  a  reverence  for  the  authority  of 
the  Bible,  which  takes  in  a  belief  in  the  correctness  of  all  the 
ideas  of  the  writer  and  the  ideas  of  his  age  which  he  shares 
and  reflects,  but  to  their  credit  be  it  said,  they  do  not  any 
longer  believe  it  to  be  a  thing  of  the  present,  having  come  to 
be  modern  and  sufficiently  permeated  by  the  scientific  spirit 
and  method  as  to  be  released  from  this  primitive  belief  and 
fear,  except  perhaps  those  of  nervous  or  morbid  condition, 
and  the  sort  who  are  found  in  Zion.  Many  Zionites  are  char- 
acterized by  a  strong  imagination  of  the  primitive  sort.  They 
fill  the  gaps  between  perception  or  experience,  not  by  logical 
interpretation,  but  a  crude  imagination,  t  Here  is  a  sample. 
A  woman,  the  wife  of  one  of  Zion's  Elders,  told  me  personally 
that  upon  one  occasion  her  husband  came  home  from  meeting 
and  found  her  choked  up  with  a  sore  throat  until  it  was  diffi- 
cult for  her  to  breathe.  He  turned  to  God  and  prayed  earn- 
estly for  her  relief,  and  at  once  she  felt,  as  it  were,  something 
touching  her  throat,  and  that  the  feeling  of  tightness  and  dis- 
tress passed  on  down  through  her  body  and  out  at  her  feet. 
"  Now  what  was  that?"  she  said,  "it  was  the  Holy  Spirit 
that  touched  me  and  sent  away  that  distrees  and  sickness." 

This  is  not  an  isolated  experience,  for  time  and  again  these 
people  have  said  to  me,  "  I  just  felt  the  sickness  and  pain 
leaving  me,"  or  similar  expressions.  In  conversation  with 
an  elder,  he  said  that  he  '  believed  in  a  God  who  actually 
comes  down  and  helps  people,"  meaning  by  this  in  his  fuller 
explanation,  that  God  actually  places  his  touch  upon  people 
to  heal  in  answer  to  prayer.  They  objectify  subjective  expe- 
rience in  true  primitive  style.  This  will  account  in  part  for 
the  wonderful  tenacity  with  which  they  hold  to  the  belief  in 

*  They  loosely  refer  to  the  tobacco  habit  as  the  tobacco  demon. 
fCf.  Davenport,  Op.  Cit.,  p.  14  ff. 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


divine  healing,  for  whatever  they  conceive  vividly  with  the 
imagination,  they  brieve  with  all  the  soul.  *  In  spite  of  Mr. 
Dowie  or  any  of  the  healers  declaring  that  it  is  God  and  not 
they  who  have  done  the  healing,  they  are  positively  regarded 
by  the  healed  as  having  unusual  access  to  God  in  prayer,  and 
whatever  doctrines  they  preach  are  accepted  by  the  healed 
who  are  convinced  of  their  recovery  through  this  divine  agent. 
Hence  it  is  that  many  of  Mr.  Dowie' s  followers  have  taken 
this  view  of  him — "  I  could  believe  he  is  anything  he  claims 
to  be,  as  God  works  so  mightily  through  him."  t 

Thus  it  is  that  while  they  give  a  semblance  of  a  Scripture 
argument  for  their  faith  in  him  as  a  Prophet  and  Apostle,  it 
really  rests  upon  a  conviction  born  of  an  experience  a  vivid 
primitive  imagination  has  made  possible,  that  this  man  is 
verily  God's  Prophet.  Against  such  there  is  no  argument 
save  time's  own  disillusionment,  and  it  is  painful  to  see  how 
Scripture  goes  by  the  board  when  an  unkindness,  or  a  revela- 
tion of  falseness  too  great  to  be  ignored,  sweeps  away  this 
erstwhile  faith  and  simple  trust,  because  the  facts  are  seen  to 
be  against  it.  X 

*Cf.  Davenport,  op.  cit.  p.  16,  ff. 

f  The  person  who  actually  said  these  words  never  was  a  resident  of 
Zion  City,  and  is  now  extremely  hostile  to  Mr.  Dowie.  She  was  healed 
by  him  of  partial  insanity,  or  better,  extreme  nervous  prostration. 

t  Mr.  C.  J.  Barnard  once  of  Oak  Park,  Chicago,  Presbyterian  Church, 
gives  the  following  recital  of  his  experience  with  Mr.  Dowie:  "Six 
years  ago  my  daughter  was  twelve  years  old.  She  was  a  sweet  child  and 
my  wife  and  i  were  devoted  to  her.  She  became  afflicted  with  curvature 
ot  the  spine.  It  progressed  in  spite  of  physicians  until  her  head  was 
drawn  far  back  and  she  was  in  constant  agony.  We  called  in  many  doc- 
tors and  surgeons,  among  the  latter  consulting  the  most  eminent  in  the 
country  and  were  told  by  all  that  there  was  no  hope  for  her.  If  she  lived 
she  would  be  a  cripple  all  her  life.  Any  father  and  mother  can  under- 
stand our  grief  when  we  were  told  that.  We  determined  to  move  heaven 
and  earth  to  have  her  cured.  ...  At  last  we  heard  of  some  one  who  had 
been  cured  by  Dr.  Dowie.  We  determined  to  listen  to  him.  We  did  so 
and  after  long  study  of  the  Bible  became  convinced  that  it  was  right  and 
that  God  was  willing  to  heal  all  who  believed  in  Jesus.   We  believed  : 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


185 


Mr.  Davenport  argues  that  nervous  instabilit,v  is  the  chief 
of  a  group  of  primitive  characteristics  which  has  as  its  inevita- 
ble accompaniament,  impulsiveness,  a  remarkable  imitative- 
ness  and  suggestibility,  and  great  lack  of  inhibitive  control. 
He  says,  "  In  spite  of  this  extraordinary  .susceptibility,  there 
is  probably  less  insanit_v  than  among  civilized  peoples.  .  .  . 
The  primitive  man  is  led  to  action  by  impulse  rather  than  by 
motives  carefulh-  reflected  upon." 

If  it  can  be  shown  that  Mr.  Dowie's  people  have  in  the  main 
acted,  or  customarily  act,  by  impulse  rather  than  b\'  motives 
carefully  reflected  upon,  if  they  show  a  high  degree  of  imita- 
tiveness  and  suggestibility,  they  are  clearly  proved  to  be 
primitive  in  their  mental  characteristics,  and  under  proper 
conditions  would  exhibit  the  reflex  accompaniaments,  such  as 
trances,  dreams,  visions,  rapid  imitations,  involuntary  trem- 
blings, violent  spasmodic  actions  and  uncontrollable  fear. 

The  trait  of  imitativeness  is  seen  in  almost  every  letter  a 
member  of  Zion  has  written  to  me.  They  reproduce  Mr. 
Dowie's  "  God's  Way  of  Healing"  and  the  stereotyped  ex- 
pressions one  hears  in  their  leader's  public  utterances.  In 
no  case  has  a  letter  from  any  one  not  an  officer  revealed  any 
originality  even  of  arrangement  of  argument,  or  independent 
attitude  toward  an}-  idea  or  belief  or  Scripture  text. 

so  did  our  daughter.  We  went  to  Dr.  Dowie  and  he  laid  hands  on  her 
and  prayed.  lnstantl\'  her  pain  departed  from  her  and  to  this  day  has  not 
returned.  Her  back  became  straight,  and  she  is  to-day  a  healthy,  happy 
and  entirely  well  young  woman  and  the  joy  of  our  hearts.  Understand- 
ing that  is  it  any  wonder  to  you  :hat  we  follow  Dr.  Dowie  with  und\  ing 
love  and  obey  his  wishes  even  before  they  are  uttered,  if  we  can  guess 
them."  (Century  42,  1902,  p  941).  Deacon  Peckham  had  the  same  ex- 
perience only  it  was  Mrs.  Peckham  who  was  healed.  Deacon  Barnard 
became  .Vlr.  Dowie's  efficient  financial  manager,  and  without  knowing  the 
details  of  the  business  of  Zion  City,  we  feel  sure  that  to  him  in  large  part 
is  due  the  credit  of  managing  affairs  so  as  to  keep  things  going  in  spite  of 
Mr.  Dowie's  unwise  measures.  He  found  in  February,  190%  that  matters 
were  being  conducted  by  Mr.  Dowie  in  such  a  wav  that  he  could  see 
nothing  but  financial  ruin  awaiting  the  organization,  and  he  resigned  and 
quietly  withdrew. 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


An  interesting  and  illuminating  incident  occurred  once  in 
our  Young  People's  prayer  meeting.  Three  Zion  people  were 
present  and  bj'  coincidence  the  topic  was  "  The  Great  Physi- 
cian." The  statement  of  Jesus  "  They  that  are  whole  need 
not  a  physician  ;  but  they  that  are  sick.  I  came  not  to  call 
the  righteous  but  sinners  to  repentance,"  was  read,  and  in 
comment  upon  it  we  said  that  here  at  least  Jesus  does  not 
disparage  the  physician,  using  his  ministry  to  the  sick  as  a 
figure  for  the  greater  work  that  was  His  own  in  ministering 
to  the  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  man.  Jesus  addressed  him- 
self primarily  to  the  inner  life,  and  it  was  his  mission  to  re- 
store the  spirit  of  man  to  fellowship  with  God  the  Father, 
When  the  discussion  was  opened  to  all  present,  a  Deacon  of 
Zion,  a  large  good-natured  weak-faced  man  arose  and  follow- 
ing Mr.  Dowie's  discussion  "  Satan  the  Defiler,  Jesus  the 
Healer,"  which  he  evidently  had  outlined  in  his  Bible,  said 
in  substance  :  "Jesus  was  manifested  to  destroy  the  works  of 
the  Devil,  i  John  3:8.  Now  turn  to  Acts  10:38,  'and  healing 
all  that  were  oppressed  of  the  Devil.'  Now  turn  to  Luke 
13:16."  As  he  read  the  passage  he  inserted  purposely  the 
word  "God"  for  "Satan,"  making  it  read,  "  whom  God  has 
bound,  lo  these  eighteen  years."  "  Is  that  right  ?"  he  said; 
but  no  one  even  lisped  a  syllable  altho  every  one  was  giving 
strict  attention.  He  was  in  a  different  atmosphere  from  a 
Zion  meeting.  There,  whether  the  audience  had  been  large  or 
small,  a  chorus  of  "no's"  would  have  responded,  and  to  his 
further  question,  "who  did  bind  her  then  ?"  "Satan,"  would 
have  been  the  instant  reply.  Again  and  again  do  Zion  peo- 
ple betray  themselves  by  an  imitation  of  Mr.  Dowie's  method 
or  his  phraseology.  One  can  in  a  short  conversation  with  one 
of  them  class  him  as  a  follower  of  Mr.  Dowie  without  his 
name  being  mentioned  or  any  reference  to  Zion  being  made.* 

*  THOSE  WHO  ATTEMPT  TO  IMITATE  THE  GENERAL  OVERSEER 
HINDER  ZION. 

Some  of  you  are  very  offensive. 
1  shall  talk  plainly, 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


187 


The  smaller  meetings  of  Zion  people,  for  example,  cottage 
meetings,  a  number  of  which  we  have  attended,  are  merely 
repetitions  of  Mr.  Dowie's  ideas  and  utterances  of  the  larger 
meetings,  threshed  over  and  over  until  one  would  think  the 
people  would  weary  to  hear  them  ;  but  to  all  appearances  they 
come  as  novelties  and  elicit  the  same  sort  of  responses. 

In  a  morning  meeting  in  Elijah  Hospice,  September  25, 
1903,  among  other  things  the  leader  said,  "  There  are  many 
truths  revealed  to  the  General  Overseer,  but  we  are  not  ready 
to  receive  them — -the  Elijah  question  for  example.  Let  us 
keep  our  mouths  shut  until  we  know.  Criticism  becomes  a 
loop-hole  for  the  Devil.  Rise  above  criticism.  If  you  do 
whatever  he  commands  you'll  have  the  blessing. "    This  was 

You  hinder  Zion. 

You  think  that  you  can  ape  and  imitate  the  General  Overseer,  but  you 
can  not  do  it. 

That  is  impossible. 

There  is  only  one  man  like  me  in  the  world,  and  that  is  myself. 
I  am  thankful  to  God  that  you  will  never  have  any  success  in  trying 
to  imitate  me. 

1  do  not  want  any  one  else  to  bear  the  burdens  I  have  borne. 
1  do  not  want  any  one  else  to  pass  through  the  afflictions  through  which 
1  have  passed. 

I  do  not  want  any  one  else  to  win  the  successes  I  have  won  at  the  price 
1  have  paid  ;  and  yet  I  am  not  sorry  tor  any  price  I  have  paid  for  them, 
or  for  any  path  I  have  had  to  tread. 

You  must  understand  that  you  can  not  under  any  circumstances  be  the 
General  Overseer. 

Imitation  may  be  the  sincerest  form  of  flattery,  but  the  General  Over- 
seer does  not  appreciate  your  imitations  of  him. 

They  are  very  poor  imitations. 

There  are  some  Elders,  indeed  some  Deacons,  as  well  as  others  that 
want  to  be  like  the  General  Overseer  in  talking. 

Do  you  not  know  that  you  irritate,  rather  than  help,  because  you  are 
affecting  something  that  does  not  belong  to  you  ? 

There  is  only  one  man,  as  far  as  I  know,  that  has  my  commission,  and 
that  is  myself. 

This  warning  does  not  apply  to  the  people  in  general,  because  they  do 
not  attempt  to  imitate  me.— Leaves  of  Healing,  Vol.  15,  No.  16,  p.  502. 


i88 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


the  general  thread  of  the  leader's  talk,  but  not  one  dared  as- 
sert the  right  of  private  judgment  during  the  open  discussion 
which  followed,  and  taking  the  leader's  suggestion  thej'  reite- 
rated the  thought  of  submission. 

I  can  not  but  interpret  the  foregoing  attitude  of  these  peo- 
ple as  indicating  an  element  of  fear  mingled  with  imitative- 
ness.  It  is  scarcely  explained  on  the  principle  of  policy. 
True  that  may  be  and  doubtless  is  an  explanation  in  part  of 
the  great  deference  shown  the  General  Overseer's  ideas  and 
expressions.  The  people  of  the  rank  and  file  were  certainly 
afraid  that  anything  but  submission  to  Mr.  Dowie  would  incur 
the  Divine  displeasure,  and  they  were  really  afraid  of  him. 
This  and  the  imitativeness  make  the  impulse  to  gang  action 
very  strong  and  suppress  individual  initiative  in  Zion  until  it 
has  nearly  reached  the  vanishing  point. 

There  are  many  persons  with  more  or  less  education  in 
full  touch  with  the  modern  world-culture,  who,  under  certain 
circumstances,  are  for  a  time  reduced  to  a  primitive  mental 
and  nervous  condition  by  the  application  of  the  influence  of 
a  psychological  crowd,  and  those  of  high  suggestibility  will 
manifest  the  primitive  traits  in  great  strength,  under  high  ex- 
citement and  in  such  a  gathering.  Under  such  conditions 
the  latter  class  will  be  governed  by  their  feelings  chiefly  and 
their  actions  will  in  general  be  impulsive  rather  than  delibera- 
tive, and  the  former  are  liable  to  revert  to  this  primitive  t3'pe. 
The  individual  power  of  inhibition  will  be  very  greath^  modi- 
fied or  even  swallowed  up  in  the  mass  movement  or  feeling 
and  the  audience  will  have  become  a  psychological  crowd. 

The  reflexes  which  are  likely  to  accompany  the  bringing  of 
highly  suggestible  people  together  in  a  crowd  will  depend 
largely  upon  the  character  of  the  leadership  and  the  emotions 
that  are  appealed  to.  In  the  old  time  revival  where  the  ter- 
rors of  hell  were  dwelt  upon  agonizing  groans  and  prostra- 
ting fear  with  convulsions  were  not  infrequent.  Visions  of 
glory,  "Hallelujahs,"  and  expressions  of  excessive  joy  are  the 
accompaniament  of  the  camp-meeting  revival  of  the  present 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


South,  whereas  the  Kentucky-  Revival  of  1800  witnessed 
tremblings,  shrieking,  the  "jerks"  and  other  reflex  phe- 
nomena.* 

It  is  clear  that  Mr.  Dowie  has  sought  to  suppress  and  has 
suppressed  much  of  the  excessive  emotionalism  that  would 
naturally  be  expected  in  his  larger  public  meetings,  and  Zion 
has  never  been  friendly  to  those  who  are  in  the  habit  of  "see- 
ing things.'/  The  expression  of  feeling  in  his  meetings  has 
been  carefully  directed  toward  the  quieter  voicing  of  approval 
or  disapproval  by  3'es,"  or  'no"  or  '  that's  so"  and  the  like. 
Applause  is  quite  frequent  ;  and  laughter  sometimes  vocifer- 
ous, is  heard  in  Zion  meetings.  However,  reflex  phenomena 
do  occur,  and  it  is  not  unusual  that  some  one  has  to  be  qui- 
eted in  a  public  meeting.  During  the  last  week  of  February, 
1906,  when  Overseer  Voliva  was  in  charge  of  Zion  Citv,  he 
is  reported  to  have  "caused  a  number  of  the  'citizens'  who 
have  been  receiving  'messages'  and  seeing  visions  to  meet 
him  in  his  office,  and  there  ridiculed  them  until  he  was  satis- 
iied  that  his  words  had  had  the  desired  effect.  '  There  will  be 
no  more  of  such  nonsense,'  he  said." 

That  so  little  is  said  of  dreams  and  visions  is  due  to  the 
surrounding  atmosphere  in  the  churches  which  has  discredited 
all  such  'revelations,'  and  the  opposition  and  disapproval  of 
the  leaders  to  which  reference  has  been  made.  For  the  same 
reason  trances  are  not  frequent,  at  least  are  not  reported. 
There  are  many  Zion  people  tho  who  attach  great  signifi- 
cance to  premonitions,  dreams  and  presentiments :  and  who,  past 
questions,  would  under  the  same  sort  of  preaching  and  atmos- 
phere as  the  earlier  revivals  had,  manifest  the  same  reflexes 
with  greater  frequency. 

(loj  Mr.  Dowie's  people  furnish  an  excellent  illustration  of 
a  psycological  crowd,  in  popular  parlance,  a  mob. 

It  is  true  that  some  have  never  been  fully  assimilated  to  the 
Zion  idea  and  teaching,  nor  to  absolute  loyalty  to  Mr.  Dowie, 
but  these  only  constitute  a  fringe,  as  it  were,  of  that  large  in- 

*Cf.  Davenport,  op.  cit.  p.  216  ff. 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


ner  mass  who  have  been  ganged  around  the  person  of  the 
"Apostle,"  and  the  ideas  and  institutions  of  Zion,  and  have 
been  molded  into  a  psychological  crowd. 

A  crowd  is  one  of  the  simplest  forms  of  social  organism, 
being  not  an  aggregate  of  individuals  merely,  but  a  new  and 
distinct  body  with  a  life  of  its  own,  and  traits  and  attributes 
peculiar  to  itself,  acting  upon  emotions  belonging  strictly  to 
the  collective  body.  "Mobs  are  of  several  kinds,  as  the 
street  mob,  political  mob,  the  lynching  mob,  the  religious 
mob,  the  reading  mob,  etc.  .  .  .  The  street  mob  is  the  nor- 
mal type ;  it  display's  in  simplest  forms  the  eager  emotion, 
the  imperfect  comprehension,  the  irrational  action  that  mark 
the  mob."  *  Of  course  the  street  mob  is  likely  to  be  short 
lived,  as  the  core  around  which  it  organizes  itself  is  not  a 
permanent  thing,  but  rather  fleeting  in  its  nature.  The  lynch 
mob  likewise,  has  only  a  brief  existence,  but  such  mobs  have 
been  known  to  maintain  their  existence  for  days  and  even 
weeks,  tho  the  different  component  parts  were  following  their 
usual  vocations  or  engaged  in  a  more  or  less  diligent  search 
for  the  object  of  their  fury.  As  long  as  the  controlling  pur- 
pose or  idea  has  not  been  changed  by  the  death  of  their  vic- 
tim, it  simply  led  an  intermittent  life,  ready  to  be  realized  in 
action.  The  political  mob  may  live,  practically  through  a 
campaign,  or  simply  till  the  echoes  of  a  "spell-binder's" 
voice  has  died  away,  and  the  component  parts  have  dispersed. 
A  religious  mob  will  probably  be  longer  lived,  perhaps  be- 
cause of  the  inherent  conservatism  of  religious  ideas,  or 
because  of  the  need  for  greater  time  to  realize  its  aims  and 
carry  out  the  plans  or  purposes  of  its  leaders.  Hence  its 
unitj'  will  be  oftener  broken,  and  the  coming  and  going  almost 
incessant,  as  its  core  ideas  lose  their  grip  on  some  of  the  old 
or  attract  new  disciples.  The  inner  batch  remains  sufficientlj' 
unified  to  be  a  quiescent  mob  ever  ready  to  respond  to  the 
leaders'  touch.     It  has  been  thus  with    Zion.      Mr.  Sedg- 

*  Article,  "Mob  Spirit  in  Literature  "—Mr.  Sedgwick,  Atlantic  Monthly, 
July,  190S. 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


191 


wick  *  indicates  what  traits  seem  to  him  to  be  essential  to 
constitute  a  mob.  We  reproduce  his  thought,  (a)  Numbers 
are  essential.  "  There  must  be  a  great  congregation,  so  that 
individuals  mav  act  and  react  upon  one  another.  The  greater 
the  sum  of  these  interactions,  the  more  coherent,  the  more 
sensitive,  the  more  compact,  the  more  mobile  the  body  be- 
comes. Where  the  number  of  persons  is  very  great  the  new 
organism  wholly  dominates  the  individual  members ;  when 
the  number  is  small,  the  mob  is  of  low  vitality,  torpid,  flac- 
cid, and  exercises  only  a  shadowy  control  over  its  members  who 
retain  practically  all  their  independence  as  individuals." 

(b)  The  composition  of  a  mob  is  immaterial.  It  may  be 
composed  of  all  classes  and  conditions,  all  businesses  and 
callings,  diverse  in  training,  education  and  sex.  "  They  may 
be  mild  mannered  or  harsh,  equable  or  capricious,  sour  or 
jovial;  once  united  in  a  mob  they  strip  themselves  of  those 
traits  and  acquire  instincts  and  inhibitions,  sensibility'  to 
stimuli,  and  tendencies  to  action  to  which  as  individuals  they 
were  strangers." 

(c)  There  must  be  mutual  relations  and  common  interests — 
a  point  of  contact  each  with  the  others.  The  necessary  con- 
dition of  meeting  upon  a  common  plane  is  not  phvsical  but 
psychical.  Physical  contact  is  an  aid  in  the  case  of  a  street 
mob  to  give  ps^'chical  contact,  but  this  may  be  communicated 
at  a  distance,  hy  any  means  capable  of  conveying  emotions 
while  they  are  still  warm.  Literature  is  servicable  to  this 
end. 

(d)  The  chemical  union,  the  crystallization  of  the  mob,  de- 
pends on  two  things,  a  proper  condition  of  receptivity,  and  a 
power  of  suggestion  mutually  acting  on  each  other.  It  is 
akin  to  the  process  of  hypnotism.  "The  miraculous  cures 
at  Lourdes,  Ste.  Anne  de  Beaupre  are  analogous  :  the  pa- 
tient is  thoroughly  receptive,  he  is  specially  conscious  of  the 
sense  of  numbers,  that  he  is  not  an  isolated  cripple  come  to 
be  cured,  but  a  constituent  ]3art  of  a  miraculous  circuit  of 

*  Article  cited. 


192 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


true  believers,  sensible  to  the  thrills  of  life  from  some  great 
and  mysterious  source.  He  is  physically  alone  but  psychi- 
cally one  of  many  and  reacts  to  the  sense  of  numbers." 

(e)  Rudimentary  intellectual  life,  with  no  reasoning  or 
critical  faculty.  Perhaps  to  say  a  primitive  condition  of 
mental  and  emotional  life  is  most  manifest  in  mobs,  would  be 
a  more  comprehensive  statement.  "  Reflex  action  answers  to 
peripheral  stimulus,  there  is  no  pondering,  no  consideration, 
no  choice  of  acts."  There  are  man\'  minor  traits  such  as  ten- 
dency to  exaggeration,  to  excesses,  to  destruction  of  existing 
institutions  and  customs  ;  intolerance,  dictatorialness,  and 
considerable  conservatism  at  times,  manifested  by  crowds. 
But  all  of  these  would  probably  come  under  the  designation, 
primitive. 

With  this  outline  analysis  of  mobs  in  mind  we  make  our  in- 
terpretation of  the  entire  movement  known  as  the  C.  C.  A.  C. 
in  Zion. 

Most  of  the  characteristics  exhibited  by  a  mob  are  latent 
in  all  human  beings,  and  it  is  a  comparatively  small  minor- 
ity with  sufficiently  strong  inhibitory  powers  to  be  incapable 
of  ever  being  one  of  the  component  parts  of  a  mob. 

The  Baptist  denomination,  for  example,  is  not  a  psycho- 
logical mob,  but  it  could  be  transformed  into  one,  at  least  a 
large  majority  of  its  people  could,  on  any  issue  of  enough  im- 
portance to  awaken  the  gang  spirit  of  defense  or  aggression. 
True  the  disintegrating  influences  on  denominational  compact- 
ness of  the  modern  spirit  of  unity  and  interdenominational 
co-operation  and  fellowship,  would  make  an  occasion  less  likely 
and  a  fusion  more  difficult. 

The  Abolitionist  Party,  altho  numbering  in  its  ranks  many 
highly  educated,  noble  men,  had  all  the  marks  of  a  psycho- 
logical mob  in  the  broadest  sense  of  the  terms,  and  whenever 
a  section  of  the  party  came  together  in  a  convention  or  gather- 
ing of  any  sort  it  was  capable  of  all  the  excesses  and  extremes 
of  emotional  outburst  and  frenzied  action  of  a  psycholog- 
ical mob. 


THE  PEOPLE  OE  ZION 


193 


The  inherent  capacity  is  in  all  men  practically.  A  jjiven 
body  of  ideas,  especially  in  their  newness,  real  or  apparent, 
however  disseminated,  constitute  a  rallying?  point  or  basis  ot 
mob  movement  and  action.  When  in  actual  proximity  men 
of  these  ideas  and  jiassions  can  be  molded  b}^  a  stronj?  leader 
almost  to  his  will,  by  a  skillful  use  of  images,  words  and 
formulas,  appealinij-  to  their  common  interests,  desires  and 
tendencies. 

From  our  chapters  on  Point  of  C'ontacl,  Propaganda,  Di- 
vine Healing,  and  Doctrines  of  Zion ;  indeed  from  all  that 
has  gone  before,  we  see  the  remote  causes  and  iiroper  condi- 
tions for  making  Mr.  Dowie's  people  caiiahK  oi  In  inix  molded 
into  a  psychological  mob  or  crowd  by  such  a  man  as  hv,  or  any 
other  leader  for  that  matter,  who  would  use  these  ideas  and 
methods.  Tliese  people,  naturalh  possessing  the  primitivt 
traits  necessary  to  the  formation  of  a  crowd,  ]-)Ossessed  also  the 
attitude  toward  God.  and  the  Bible,  wiiich  made  fertile  ground 
where  the  peculiar  ideas  of  Zion  could  germinate  as  if  by 
spontaneity  and  divine  implanting.  And  it  is  alwaj's  the 
points  of  peculiarity  which  find  em])hasis  in  a  group,  and 
which  the  leader  puts  forward  as  a  rallying  center  and  im- 
pulse toward  social  action.  ' 

Mr.  Dowie's  people  are  a  crowd  in  tin-  wider  sense  of  being 
ganged  permanently  by  certain  ideas  and  a  strong  leader. 
They  become  when  massed  in  one  large  meeting,  the  intenser 
form  of  crowd  and  are  easily  swayed  in  the  direction  of  their 
controlling  ideas  and  emotions  such  as,  for  example,  "  it  is 
God's  will,"  "it  is  right,"  '"  the  Kingdom  of  God  demands 
it,"  or  any  form  of  religious  appeal  which  brings  immediate 
action  without  time  for  reflection  or  criticism.  LeBon  says, 
"The  outburst  and  putting  in  practice  of  certain  ideas  among 
crowds  presents  at  times  a  startling  suddenness.  This  is 
only  a  superficial  effect,  behind  which  must  be  sought  a  pre- 
liminary and  preparatory  action  of  long  duration.    The  imme- 

=^Cf.  Article  on  Conformity  and  Heresy,  by  George  H.  Vincent,  Metho- 
dist Review,  January  and  February,  1906. 


194 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOVVIE 


diate  factors  art-  those  w  hicli  coming'  on  the  top  of  this  lon^ 
preparator>  \\orkin<;  in  wliose  absence  tliey  would  remain 
without  effect,  serve  as  the  source  of  active  ])ersuasion  on 
crowds:  tliat  is,  tlie\  are  the  factors  which  cause  tfic  idea  to 
take  shape  and  set  it  loose  with  all  its  consequences." 

It  ini>;ht  seem,  and  would  doubtless  be  argued  by  the  new 
regime  in  Zion,  that  all  tliis  is  not  to  the  point  as  the  ])eople 
are  now  conii)ietel\  free  from  the  domination  of  Mr.  Dowie 
and  liave  abaiulom  d  man\  of  his  notions.  But  the  transfer 
of  loyaltv  IS  just  w  hat  l>t  st  illustrates  the  foregoing  quotation 
from  Lel  Joii,  and  incitlentall\  furnishes  illustration  for  other 
features  of  crowd  ac  tion. 

It  is  conceded  that  Mr.  Dowie's  t>  rann>'  and  mismanage- 
ment had  caused  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  individuals 
here  and  there  for  the  past  few  years,  but  at  no  time  up  to 
his  departure  from  Zion  City  in  December,  1905,  would  it 
have  been  possible  for  any  dissenting  voice  to  be  tolerated  in 
the  large  assembly  of  Zion  people,  even  tho  a  clear  case  of 
oppression  coidd  bi'  made  out  against  the  head  of  Zion.  Not 
only  would  the  absolutism  of  Mr.  Dowie  make  that  impossi- 
ble, but  the  sanction  of  the  officers  now  in  revolt,  would  have 
been  unanimous  for  any  kind  of  tyrannous  suppression  of  in- 
dividual rights.  Without  a  hearing  or  a  chance  for  protest, 
the  rigid  discipline  would  be  enforced  with  the  amen"  of 
ever.v  one  of  those  who  now  charge  Mr.  Dowie  with  usurpa- 
tion and  wrong  doing.  ]>ut  the  people  fail  to  realize  this. 
Their  critical  lacult\  has  slept  through  the  entire  revolt  and 
the  onl>  (  xpression  ol  tlissatistaction  has  been  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  tin  li  acl(  I  S  who  hiw  v  used  the  amotions  of  the  people 
to  break  Mi.  Down  s  liold. 

Moreo\-er,  the  peojile  iluinsehes  saw,  time  after  time, 
what  they  now  interpn  1  as  t\  ranny,  and  gave  no  dissenting 
voice:  but  rather  with  a  chorus  of  approvals,  sanctioned  Mr. 
Dowie's  i  vvry  step,  and  made  possible  the  ^  ery  wrong  doing 
that  tluy  now  condemn.  It  will  not  suffice  to  say  that  they 
feared  to  do  otherwise,  for  <ni  tlu'  j)art  ol   those'  who  ri'aiiy 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


195 


felt  otherwise  than  as  tliey  expressed  themselves,  there  is 
moral  bhimeworthiness  and  t;iiilt :  and  if  they  gave  assent  un- 
criticall.N',  liecoming  a  part  of  a  crowd  of  oppressors,  my  point 
is  made  without  further  ado. 

But  let  us  go  further.  This  dissatisfaction  witli  Mr.  Dowie's 
mismanagement  was  growing  among  the  ])eo])le,  fanned  by 
the  testimon\'  of  those  ^\  ho  had  been  his  victims  of  oppression, 
or  who,  because  of  failure  to  give  full  assent  to  his  doings, 
were  summarily  dealt  with,  (and  these  are  the  pople  who 
really  deserve  the  credit  for  the  revolt,  not  the  officers)  and 
it  had  reached  almost  to  the  exploding  point,  simplv  needing 
a  voicer  to  let  it  loose  with  all  its  i)ower  as  a  special  expres- 
sion, not  of  indixidual  feeling  and  con\iction  based  upon 
reflection  and  judgment,  but  of  crowd  emotion  and  gang  ac- 
tion. Circumstances  provided  a  leader,  as  they  did  also  the 
opportune  time,  for  this  supreme  expression  of  crowd  feeling 
which  would  dethrone  from  tJie  place  of  alisolute  authority 
and  power,  the  man  who  had  gathered  them  and  led  them  step 
hy  step  uncritically  as  a  crowd,  into  actions  and  lieliefs  which 
would  be  renovmced  with  the  renunciation  of  his  supreme 
leadership. 

April  first,  in  the  early  morning  nuating,  after  the  transfer 
had  been  made  the  i)ri  reding  da>  ,  of  all  the  Zion  properties, 
hints  of  extravagance  and  mismanagement  were  made,  and  by 
indirection  the  condition  of  receptivity  on  the  part  of  the  peo- 
])le  for  the  idea  of  comi^Iete  revolt,  was  primed.  We  have 
said  that  it  had  been  pn  pared  by  tlie  growing  dissatisfaction. 
It  was  now  about  ri])e  for  the  clever  touch  of  a  crowd  leader. 
The  morning  meeting  createtl  a  Imzziiig  and  a  stir,  and  an 
attitude  of  expectancy.  livervbodx  who  could  do  so  attended 
the  afternoon  meeting.  Mr.  \'oli\a  read  in  a  monotone, 
without  intfection  sufficient  tt)  indicate  his  own  feeling,  the 
eight  hundred  and  three  word  telegram  whicli  he  had  received 
trom  Mr.  Dowie  directing  the  removal  of  Alexander  Granger 
from  all  his  offices,  and  commanding  man\  things  contrary  to 
the  plans  and  policy  already  entered  upon  b\   Mr.  X'oliva. 


196 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


All  was  quiet  and  suspense.  Then  followed  a  signal  act  of 
revolt  ag'ainst  Mr.  Dowie's  authority  in  the  reinstatement  of 
Mr.  Speicher  who  had  been  removed  by  Mr.  Dowie,  to  his 
office  and  standint^-  in  the  church.  The  prolonged  applause 
of  the  people  of  whom  a  large  majority  were  ready  to  renounce 
allegiance  to  the  First  Apostle,"  was  as  heartN  and  emo- 
tional as  the  applause  the>  had  given,  over  and  over  again, 
to  their  former  chief. 

Mr.  Voliva  had  struck  the  proper  psychological  moment, 
and  not  by  facts  which  would  elighten  the  understanding,  but 
by  an  act  of  direct  revolt,  and  then  by  innuendoes  and  intima- 
tions as  to  the  immorality  of  the  absent  "aY)Ostle,"  the  new 
leader  broke  the  hold  of  the  old.  That  which  had  been  slum- 
bering and  waiting  to  find  expression  had  burst  forth  into 
action,  and  tlie  crowd  liad  changed  its  loyalty  in  a  ft  w  mo- 
ments, from  an  old  to  a  new  leader. 

Three  weeks  later,  the  ])eople  were  again  stampeded  into 
renouncing  their  Restoration  Vow  which  had  bound  them  to 
Mr.  Dowie.  In  Chicago  at  the  Central  Zion  Tabernacle  Over- 
seer Piper  declared  this  vow  similar  to  the  Mormon  vow  and 
thought  it  treasonable  to  the  United  States.  Those  who  sub- 
scribed to  it  he  said,  did  not  realize  what  they  were  doing, 
(doesn't  this  look  like  crowd  action  ?)  but  followed  Dow-ie 
blindly  in  this  as  in  everything  else.  "How  man\'  of  you 
Restorationists  are  willing  to  stand  up  now  before  God  and 
repudiate  this  infamous  vow  ?"  About  five  hundred  sprang 
to  their  feet  with  cries  of,  "We  repudiate  it.  Before  God 
we  repudiate  it."  While  this  was  going  on  in  Chicago,  Over- 
seer Voliva  was  giving  a  similar  talk  to  5,000  people  in  Zion 
City,  breaking  the  hold  of  Mr.  Dowie,  and  tightening  the  hold 
of  the  new  regime  upon  the  people,  by  appeals  to  their  pas- 
sions. Now  what  made  the  vow,  which  all  had  taken  uncrit- 
ically at  the  suggestion  or  command  of  Mr.  Dowie,  un- 
righteous on  April  22,  that  had  been  righteous  luider  Mr. 
Dowie's  regime  ?  Simply  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Voliva  or 
of  Mr  Piper  that  it  was  so.    Where  slept  the  good  judgment 


THH  PEOPLE  OF  ZION 


197 


and  moral  insight  of  the  individual  Restorationist  when  Mr. 
Dowie  got  him  to  take  the  vow  ?  Where  but  in  the  bosom  of 
an  unreflective  crowd  ! 

We  attended  one  of  the  large  midweek  meetings  in  Zion  City 
held  in  the  Tabernacle,  April  24,  and  had  opportunity  to  wit- 
ness the  expressions  of  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  Zion  people 
at  what  might  be  termed  the  point  of  recover}-.  \Jp  to  this 
time  the  talk  and  actions  of  the  leaders  had  been  destructive, 
with  a  view  to  confirming  the.revolt.  But  a  crowd,  no  more 
than  an  individual,  will  not  thrive  long  upon  negations.  Two 
dominant  words  were  sounded  in  the  open  testimony  meeting 
in  which  a  large  number  took  part,  and  a  tone  of  hopefulness 
pervaded  the  entire  session.  These  two  words  were,  bond- 
age and  freedom.  The  old  regime  and  Mr.  Dowie  were  rep- 
resented by  bondage  ;  the  new  by  freedom.  These  words  early 
in  the  revolt  were  put  forth  by  the  leaders  as  full  of  sugges- 
tion and  import.  They  have  been  words  to  conjure  with,  and 
the  Zion  people  have  persuaded  themselves,  or  been  per- 
suaded, that  they  represent  the  facts.  But  on  this  same  occa- 
sion Mr.  Voliva  said  :  "We  want  to  get  such  an  atmosphere 
here  in  Zion  City  that  a  person  must  do  right  or  get  out." 
Hearty  "  amens  "  from  the  people  showed  them  to  be  still 
under  the  delusion  that  absolutism  means  freedom,  for  Mr. 
Dowie  has  said  the  same  thing  many  times.  "  Right  "  means 
now  with  them  what  it  has  ever  meant;  —  to  do  as  those  in 
authority  command, — and  it  matters  little  whether  the  abso- 
hitism  be  of  an  individual  or  a  Cabinet.  Just  how  the  people 
of^ion  can  persuade  themselves  that  the  instruments  of  Mr. 
Dowie's  tyranny,  the  revolting  officers,  will  suddenly  become 
men  of  kindly  and  just  disposition,  and  meet  out  impartial 
justice  to  the  people  under  their  authority,  is  impossible  to 
explain,  except  upon  the  hypothesis  we  have  adopted. 

To  summarize.  Mr.  Dowie  and  his  divine  healing  ideas 
and  restoration  notions,  has  been  the  potent  magnet  that  has 
swept  over  the  churches,  especially  of  Chicago  and  the  middle 
west,  and  by  his  aggressive  propaganda  he  has  drawn  the 


198 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


Zion  people  to  him.  Lc  Hon  sa\  s  :  "  In  point  of  fact,  all 
the  world's  masters,  all  the  founders  of  relioions  or  empires, 
the  ai)ostles  of  all  beliefs,  eminent  statismen.  and  in  a  more 
modest  spiu'rc,  the  mere  cliiefs  of  small  yronps  of  nn-n,  ha\'e 
ahvaxs  hct  n  unconscious  ])s\ choloLrists,  |)ossessed  of  an  in- 
stinctixc  and  oltcn  \c>r\-  sure  kno\\ledi;"e  of  the  character  of 
crowds,  and  it  is  their  accurate  kno\vleds>'e  of  this  character 
that  lias  enableil  them  to  so  t'asilx  establish  the  mastery." 

I  am  inclined  to  think  it  has  been  Air.  Dowie's  darinjf  and 
the  nature  of  his  teachinsj-  that* has  been  his  chief  strength, 
as  he  has  made  many  blunders  that  most  leaders  Avould  avoid. 
Yet  as  a  promoter  and  master  of  tlu'  crasser  forms  of  appeal, 
he  is  not  often  equalled.  Tlu-  L^rcat  congrefjation  into  which 
his  people  have  loved  to  come,  because  he  has  sought  to  make 
it  attractive,  has  been  the  place  fcjr  fostering  and  fanning  to 
a  flame,  the  loyalty  and  devotion  of  the  people,  and  intensify- 
ing the  gang  spirit.  Before  this  greater  gathering,  he  has 
been  the  one  supreme,  outstanding  figure.  Dissenting  voices 
have  never  been  allowed.  Mr.  Dowie  has  been  too  practical 
for  that.  Deliberation  has  never  been  friendly  to  his  plans. 
Action — immediate  response — has  been  the  key  to  his  control. 
He  has  made  much  of  the  air  of  mystery  and  forth  coming 
revelations  of  great  things  to  be  done,  and  in  a  time  of  langour 
has  appealed  to  the  spirit  which  takes  pride  in  a  mild  sort 
of  martyrdom,  a  spirit  prevalent  in  every  religious  struggle 
group. 

Curious  outsiders  (save  in  places  where  Zion  jieople  have 
been  in  a  hopeless  minorit}-  as  in  the  New  York  visitation), 
have  kept  silence  and  witnessed  the  unanimity  of  respones  as 
he  has  had  his  people  "vote"  on  this  or  that  proposition,  not 
daring  to  raise  a  contrary  voice.  I  have  heard  them  assent 
(officers  not  excejited)  to  statements  in  full  chorus  of  re- 
sponses, which  a  moment's  reflection  would  discover  to  be 
false,  or  at  least  gross  exaggerations.  This  statement  of 
mine  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  now  their  leaders  are  pick- 

*Op.  Cit..  p.  20. 


THE  PEOPLK  Ol-  ZlOX 


ing  out  some  of  ihesi'  statcnK'Hts  and  show  ini;  tin  ni  to  have 
been  false. 

So  stroni^  has  been  the  hold  of  Mr.  Dowie  npon  manj-  of 
his  people  that  the  new  leaders  were  loth  to  have  any  consid- 
erable number  of  them  meet  him  upon  his  ex])ected  re-entry 
into  Zion  City  April  lo. 

If  ever  a  struiJ-.ijle  ^roup  has  shown  itself  possessed  of  the 
proper  conditions  of  receptivity  for  almost  any  forward  move- 
ment, or  chanjfe  aloni>- the  line  of  tendencies,  it  lias  hemi  Zion. 
The  element  of  social  conta.i;ion  has  been  i  xliihiti d  at  tlu- 
organization,  the  apostolic  annunciation,  the  New  York  \  isita- 
tion,  and  the  revolt,  and  in  a  multitude  of  minor  cases. 

The  pity  is  that  these  peoi)le  of  hii;h  morals,  for  the  most 
part,  of  deep  sincerity,  and  cai)able  of  noble  enthusiasms  and 
loyalties,  have  not  been  led  by  those  who  were  determined  to 
deal  honestly  with  them,  and  who  would  scorn  to  exaggerate 
and  deceive,  but  calmly  reason  and  i)ersuade.  But  had  this 
been  the  case  we  probably  never  would  have  had  a  C.  C.  A.  C. 
in  Zion,  as  logical  reasoning  and  persuasion  seldom  creates 
prophets  and  apostles  until  soiue  \  i  ars  after  their  death,  nor 
does  it  feed  the  emotional  n.  t ds  ol  a  people  in  a  religious 
struggle  group. 


CHAPTER  X. 


CONCLUSION. 

The  numbt-r  of  abnormal  persons  and  movements  that  claim 
the  attention  of  students  of  relij^ious  phenomena  is  increased 
with  each  generation.  They  have  the  same  or  similar  charac- 
teristics, and  differ  chiefly  according  to  the  times  in  which 
the}'  appear.  Their  unusualness  need  not  be  interpreted  as 
supernatural,  altho  the  abnormal  and  morbid  was  customarily 
interpreted  in  this  way  by  the  ancients,  and  many  moderns, 
at  least  in  point  of  time,  are  also  inclined  to  regard  the  unusual 
as  supernatural. 

Scientific  examination  shows  that  such  persons  and  move- 
ments are  to  be  accounted  for  upon  the  theory  of  natural 
causes. 

Mr.  Dowie  is  in  many  ways  a  strange  personality  to  say 
the  least,  and  to  be  explained  as  to  his  ideas  and  achievements 
as  a  "sport"  of  the  religious  world. 

"  Leaving  positively  insane  persons  out  of  account  the  peo- 
ple who  run  into  thf  t  xaggerated  development  of  on"^'  idea,  or 
are  affected  with  a  passionate  wry-niindedness  of  one  sort  or 
another,  or  go  askew  in  eccentric  impulses  of  feeling,  and 
cause  or  occasion  a  deal  of  suffering  and  annoyance,  conmionly 
do  more  harm  than  good  in  the  world.  It  falls  on  others  of  a 
more  wholesome  and  temperate  wholeness  of  nature  to  make 
special  atonement  for  them  —  to  suffer  for  tiieir  self-indul- 
gences, to  thwart  their  tollies,  to  counteract  their  extrava- 
gances, to  smooth  their  difficulties,'  to  rectit\  the  disorders 
which  the\'  produce  in  the  social  body.  The\ .  meanwhile 
absorbed  in  their  narrow  selfishness  of  their  one-sided  or 
wry-minded  natures,  care  not  sincerely  for  any  aim  except  so 
far  as  it  serves  to  gratifx'  the  modes  of  I'goistic  righteousness 


COXCHSION 


20I 


in  which  their  inti-nse  and  special  st'll-lovc  masquerades. 
Nevertheless  by  the  \  er\  intensit_\  of  their  self-confidence, 
by  their  constitutional  insensibilit\  to  other  interests,  by 
their  fanatical  zeal  and  sin,t;leiiess  of  purpose,  the>  some- 
times get  credit  for  their  pretentions  and  attract  followers 
who  look  up  to  them  as  semi-inspired. 

The  narrow  intensity  of  faith  has  two  ensuing  effects,  the 
one  upon  the  individual  himself,  the  other  upon  others. 
First.  Intoxicated  with  the  joy  of  his  special  enthusiasm,  he 
is  like  a  delirious  or  a  drunken  man  who  rejoices  in  everything 
he  does  as  its  own  justification,  needing  neither  explanation 
nor  excuse  :  accordingly  he  has  no  distrust  of  himself,  no  desire 
for  sounder  assurance,  no  compunction  for  his  disregard  of 
the  interests  and  opinif)ns  of  others,  even  those  who  have  most 
claim  upon  his  consideration — no  feeling  but  one  of  exultant 
self-satisfaction  with  what  he  thinks  and  does."  (This  de- 
scription of  tlu  resulting  character  and  conduct  of  one  under  a 
supreme  delusion  fits  Mr.  Dowie  as  perfectly  as  if  it  had  been 
written  concerning  him.  It  was  as  a  matter  of  fact  written 
before  Mr.  Dowie  began  his  career  of  self-delusion  and  delud- 
ing others.  That  he  has  been  regardless  of  anv  other  than 
liis  ow  n  opinion  or  interest  his  own  people  now  bear  abundant 
witness.  The  ])it\  is  tiiat  he  was  surrounded  by  men  who 
liad  no  desire  or  ci  rtainl\  no  ability  to  curb  his  exceedingly 
selfish  and  unreasonabk  usurpations  of  power  and  his  oppres- 
sion of  tliose  of  his  luimbler  followers  wlio  dared  to  refuse  to 
take  him  at  his  own  t  stimatiO. 

Second.  The  intensitx  of  belief  whh  wiiich  In- holds  to  a 
novel  and  seemingly  forlorn  opinion,  his  ardent  devotion  to 
it.  and  its  final  triimiph  in  spite  of  op])osition  and  against  all 
apparent  reason,  when  it  does  succeed-  these  are  so  surpris- 
ing to  others,  who  easily  perceixx-  his  limitations,  tliat  the 
success  seems  more  than  natural,  not  to  be  accounted  for  ex- 
ce])t  b\'  sui)ernatural  heli). 

Tims  it  lias  bet  n  tliat  religious  im|)ostors  ha\e  arisen  and 
flourished,   not  consciously    insinccTc  at  first,  perhajjs.  tlu'y 


202 


JOHN  alkxan]m:r  dowie 


have  deceived  tlumselves,  llieii  imposed  upon  others,  and  in 
the  end,  b\  the  reHex  efk'Ct  upon  themselves  of  the  admira- 
tion and  r(.'\  erence  ol  whicli  tlie\  arc  tlie  objects,  lia\c  become 
more  !)r  less  conscious  impostors,  allectini;  tlic  sanctity  which 
tlieir  disciples  ascribe  to  tluni.  Wantinj^  in  intellectual 
wholent'ss  and  sincerity,  b\  reason  of  a  natural  of  mental 
structtire.  it  is  inevitable  that  the\  become  morally  insincere. 
Tlu  N  delude  othi  rs  for  their  own  i^ain  or  nlor\ ,  and  to  delude 
others  is  a  sure  way  to  become  by  a  stealth\  jnocess  of  self- 
collusion,  self-deluded.  It  is  a  signal  unreason  to  challenge 
reverence  and  authority  for  a  i>erson  of  this  sort,  tacitly  or 
expressly,  because  of  his  burning  zeal  and  sincerity,  since  he 
may  be  as  little  capable  of  correct  observation,  as  incapable 
of  self-observation,  and  as  deei)ly  sunk  in  self,  as  if  he  were 
actually  insane.  To  christen  a  \  ice  zt'al  is  not  to  transform 
it  into  a  virtue.  His  nature  is  not  well  temi^ered,  it  is  intem- 
l)erate,  and  on  the  wa>  therefore,  to  becomin;^  distempered, 
and  in  any  case  the  (jnality  (^f  its  sincerity  is  very  poor,  for 
the  sinci-rt  st  i)erson,  albeit  tlu'  insincerest  to  naturi'  all  around 
is  tin-  lunatic."  * 

W'e  have  shown  that  Mr.  Dowie  falls  in  the  catei^'ory  of  just 
such  i^  rsons,  and  the  *{reatness  of  his  pretensions  and  the 
lonji;  continued  success  that  he  had  in  holding;'  his  people  to- 
ijCether  and  in  buiidiuLi'  up  his  ori^anization  for  ten  years,  does 
not  invalidate  in  the  least  this  >  stimate  of  his  character. 

His  p(_'o])ie  too  have  been  attracted  for  the  most  ))art  be- 
cause tluy  were  predisposed  to  follow  and  laud  just  such  a 
person.  His  beliefs,  and  inter] )retations  of  the  reliijious  life, 
found  them  so  readily,  and  took  hold  of  them  so  completely, 
because  they  were  his  mental  kinsfolk.  His  development 
toward  delusion  and  deceit,  and  his  assiunjition  of  the  role 
of  a  conscious  or  unconscious  imjiostor,  was  caused  by  his 
own  insatiable  self-esteem,  it  is  true.  l^ut  not  less  powerful 
has  bein  tlu   imi>ulse  and  sus^f^estion  furnished  by  an  over- 

-H.  M.  Maudsley,  "Natural  Causes  and  Supernatural  Seeminu;s."" 
p.  171. 


COXCLISIOX 


credulous  followiiifj.  If  he  was  under  the  delusion  that  he 
had  been  sent  of  God  as  Elijah,  his  people  had  to  pass  under 
the  same  delusion  to  remain  his  followers,  or  to  falsify  about 
the  matter:  for  time  and  again  he  exacted  the  declaration 
from  his  people  that  they  did  so  believe.  Every  signer  of  the 
Vow  of  a  Restorationist  was  imder  this  delusion,  or  suffered 
coercion  of  will,  amounting  approximateh*  to  dishonesty. 

The  follies  and  wrongs  of  Mr.  Dowie  were  not  caiised  by 
him  alone.  He  has  himself  and  his  people  to  blame,  and 
while  the  following  may  not  as  a  whole  be  criminally  and  legally 
responsible  for  his  character  and  doings,  they  are  psycholog- 
ically responsible  in  a  large  measure. 

It  is  also  true  that  the  healings  of  Mr.  Dowie  require  no 
t  iement  of  the  miraculous  to  explain  them.  The  atmosphere 
that  a  man  of  such  hypnotic  influence  and  power  as  to  be  able 
to  hold  a  large  following  deceived  for  jears,  would  create, 
and  the  bringing  together  of  so  many  of  the  same  mental  atti- 
tude, would  make  healings  by  suggestion  not  only  probable, 
but  well  nigh  inevitable.  Not  that  it  can  be  shown  that  none 
of  the  persons  healed  in  connection  with  this  movement  were 
not  truly  heljied  back  to  health  by  the  infinite  spirit  of  power 
and  wholeness  that  furnishes  all  life  and  being,  for  any  sort 
of  healing  presupposes  a  power  past  explanation  and  valua- 
tion in  any  complete  sense.  But  what  is  meant  by  natural 
as  used  in  science  generally,  is  sufficient  to  account  for  all 
these  cures. 

What  will  become  of  the  movement  inaugurated  and  so 
long  controlled  absolutely  by  Mr.  Dowie  ?  The  answer  lies 
outside  our  province.    Yet  rt  has  great  interest. 

Since  we  can  not  forsee  what  elements  of  strength  and 
weakness  will  be  mixed  in  the  men  who  shall  assume  leader- 
ship, we  must  await  the  developments  of  time.  Nor  can  any 
one  predict  the  next  move  that  a  psychological  crowd  will 
make  upon  the  introduction  of  some  disintegrating  influence 
or  an  influence  that  will  deflect  the  current  of  its  group  life. 
The  feeling  that  the  peo])le  of  Zion  have  under  the  new  regime 


204 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 


that  they  art-  free,  is  another  delusion  tondl>  indulged  and 
fostered  by  their  new  leaders.  It  may  be  that  a  sufficient 
number  will,  by  enforced  reflection,  come  to  sec  the  true  state 
in  which  they  are  placed,  and  forsake  leaders  who  are  scarcely 
more  worthy  of  trust  and  confidence  than  Mr.  Dowie. 

In  any  case  the  movement  will  pass  out  of  its  tense  state 
and  its  uncritical  devotion  to  certain  opinions  and  doctrines 
and  if  it  has  inherent  energy  enough  to  persist,  will  develop 
a  tradition,  a  doctrine  and  a  cult  of  its  own,  and  be  influenced 
by  the  currents  of  modern  life  in  some  measure,  but  continue 
as  a  modified  form  of  Dowieism. 


Date  Due 


— _^ — 

BX7430.07H2 

John  Alexander  Oowie  and  the  Christian 
Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1  1012  00038  6740 


